Page 12 - The 60.Venice Biennial & MoMA issue of WOA Contemporary Art magazine

Biennale Arte 2024 LA BIENNALE DI VENEZIA
60TH INTERNATIONAL ART EXHIBITION
STRANIERI OVUNQUE – FOREIGNERS EVERYWHER

BIENNALE ARTE 2024

The 60th International Art Exhibition, titled “Stranieri Ovunque – Foreigners
Everywhere,” will be open to the public from April 20 to November 24, 2024, at
the Giardini and the Arsenale. Curated by Adriano Pedrosa and organized by La
Biennale di Venezia, the pre-opening events took place on April 17-19, with the
awards ceremony and inauguration on April 20, 2024.
Since 2021, La Biennale di Venezia has been committed to environmental
sustainability. In 2024, the goal is to extend the “carbon neutrality” certification
achieved in 2023 for its scheduled activities, including the 80th Venice
ADRIANO PEDROSA.
CURATOR OF 60TH INTERNATIONAL ART International Film Festival, and the Theatre, Music, and Dance Festivals. Notably,
EXHIBITION. PHOTO BY ANDREA AVEZZÙ.
COURTESY LA BIENNALE DI VENEZIA the 18th International Architecture Exhibition was the first major event in its
field to implement a tangible process for achieving carbon neutrality, while also
addressing themes of decolonization and decarbonization.

THE CURATOR’S INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION
The 60th edition of the International Art The Exhibition is held in the Central Pavilion (Giardini) and the Arsenale, featuring
Exhibition, titled “Foreigners Everywhere two sections: the Contemporary Nucleus and the Historical Nucleus.
– Stranieri Ovunque,” evokes current For Biennale Arte 2024, the focus is on artists who have never participated in the
scenarios and possible universes. Curator International Exhibition, although some may have been part of a National Pavilion,
Adriano Pedrosa’s Biennale Arte reflects Collateral Event, or previous editions. Special emphasis is placed on outdoor
his unbiased approach to study and projects in both the Arsenale and Giardini, with a performance program planned
research, embracing the unknown and for the pre-opening and closing weekends of the 60th Exhibition.
using disorientation as a tool for discovery. The title “Stranieri Ovunque – Foreigners Everywhere” is inspired by a series
As the first South American curator, of works by the Claire Fontaine collective, which began in 2004. These neon
Pedrosa highlights the symbolic nature of sculptures display the phrase “Foreigners Everywhere” in various languages,
compass points, challenging traditional originating from a Turin collective that fought against racism and xenophobia in
North-South hierarchies. early 2000s Italy.
Pedrosa’s selection of artists focuses on Adriano Pedrosa explains that “Stranieri Ovunque” has multiple meanings: it
those who have never participated before, signifies that foreigners are everywhere, and that, deep down, everyone is a
shedding light on Modernism outside the foreigner no matter where they are.
Anglosphere and highlighting overlooked
geographies. Inspired by Oswald de CONTEMPORARY NUCLEUS
Andrade’s Manifesto antropófago, Pedrosa The Italian ‘straniero,’ Portuguese ‘estrangeiro,’ French ‘étranger,’ and Spanish
emphasizes the need for the global South ‘extranjero’ all trace their roots to words meaning ‘strange’ or ‘stranger.’ Sigmund
to cannibalize hegemonic cultures to Freud’s concept of ‘Das Unheimliche’ (The Uncanny) comes to mind, translated
establish their own Modernisms. in Portuguese as ‘o estranho’ - the strange that is also familiar. According to
This Biennale features both contemporary dictionaries, the first meaning of ‘queer’ is ‘strange,’ which aligns with the
and historical works, including a significant exhibition’s focus on various marginalized subjects: queer artists navigating
presence of 20th-century Italian diaspora different sexualities and genders, often persecuted; outsider artists on the fringes
artists. For the first time, the indigenous of the art world, including self-taught and folk artists; and indigenous artists,
Amazonian art collective MAHKU is often seen as foreigners in their own lands. These groups form the core of the
showcased, with a large-scale work on Contemporary Nucleus.
the Central Pavilion’s facade, inspired by Indigenous artists have a significant presence, with the Mahku collective from
sacred ayahuasca rituals. Brazil creating a monumental mural on the Central Pavilion’s facade, and the

12 WORLD of ART