Dell'Archivio Storico delle Arti Contemporanee «la Biblioteca n’era il principio»
abstract
The essay aims to reconstruct the history and to provide a library analysis about one of the most important libraries of contemporary art in Italy: the Library of the Venice Biennale. The library has been the founding fulcrum of what today is ASAC: Historical Archive of Contemporary Arts of the Venice Biennale. Its long history can be reconstructed by retracing the move of which it has been the protagonist, from the beginning in a small room on the ground floor of the Palazzo Ducale, to the current location inside the Central Pavilion of the Biennale Gardens. The heritage of books is in continuous development thanks to the Book Pavilion project and a network of exchanges between the most important artistic and cultural institutions. Today the Library heritage includes over 153,000 publications and over 3,000 periodicals. This invaluable collection, for the world of contemporary art, offers almost 23,000 volumes owned, in Italy, exclusively from the Library of the Venice Biennale.
Keywords: Venice Biennale • 1928 • Contemporary art • Library • ASAC