Venice Biennale

Established in 1895 the Venice Biennale (La Biennale di Venezia) is the oldest, and remains the most important and prestigious event on the international contemporary visual arts calendar visual arts event. Every two years Venice becomes the world stage with the attention of the world’s visual arts community and media focused on Venice over a six-month period.

Australia’s participation at the Venice Biennale is managed by the Australia Council for the Arts, the Australian Government’s arts funding and advisory body.

The Venice Biennale provides Australian artists with critical international coverage, exposing them to key new audiences, markets and contexts. This exposure helps build the profile of Australian contemporary visual arts and facilitates the establishment of significant international cultural links, networks and dialogue for individual Australian artists.  The Biennale also represents a significant platform on which the Council can promote contemporary Australian visual arts more widely.

The Venice Biennale comprises a curated show at the Giardini and Arsenale and more than 70 national exhibitions in 29 pavilions within the Giardini and other locations throughout the city.

The event attracts over 30,000 key international curators, critics, collectors and artists to the three-day Vernissage (preview) period alone, and in 2011 the exposition attracted 440,000 visitors (including many school groups and young adults) to the six-month exhibition.

Visit the official website of La Biennale di Venezia: http://www.labiennale.org

Past representation of Australia at the Venice Biennale