La Biennale di Venezia: History and Traditions

La Biennale di Venezia, Venice - June 16th

While in Venice, we attended the Biennale of Art in Giardini and Arsendale. It takes place every odd year, in conjunction with the Venice Biennale of Architecture, which takes place every even year. It is associated with great history and traditions, making it one of the biggest and most prestigious exhibitions in Italy.

The Biennale was first proposed in 1893 to celebrate the silver anniversary of King Umberto and Margherita of Savoy. The first exhibition was not held until two years later in 1895. Major Italian and foreign artists were invited to exhibit no more than two works, previously unexhibited in Italy. It attracted over 200,000 visitors, partly due to the special return train tickets that were offered with entrance into the exhibition.


Over time, the Biennale became more international, and starting from 1907, countries started to build permanent national pavilions at exhibition sites, Belgium being the first. More sections of events were added later in the 30s, including the Music Festival, the International Film Festival, and the Theater Festival.

In the period after WWI, the Biennale showed more interest in modern innovative art, moving away from traditional decorative art. Starting from the 80s, exhibits were set up on specific themes, for instance, Art as Art (1982), Art in the Mirrors (1984), and Art and Science (1986). 

Today, there are 30 permanent national pavilions in Giardini and a growing number of national exhibits scattered throughout Venice, in old churches, galleries and museums.


Xinran, Ruby, Foong Ling