From Biennale to Biennials. Cartographies of an Impossible Desire
open access
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edited by
- Anita Orzes - Universitat de Barcelona, España; Université Grenoble Alpes, France - email
- Vittorio Pajusco - Università Ca' Foscari Venezia - email
- Stefania Portinari - Università Ca’ Foscari Venezia, Italia - email orcid profile
Abstract
This volume explores the biennial phenomenon examining their artistic, geopolitical, and institutional dimensions. While primarily centred on these two major events, as the Venice and São Paulo biennials, the essays in this book also enlarge upon other biennials, exhibitions and institutions, offering comparative and relational insights. Ultimately, the volume highlights the historical complexity of biennials and their roles as cultural devices, underscoring their function as spaces of experimentation and legitimation amid broader political and institutional tensions.
Keywords São Paulo Biennial • Fabrizio Plessi • Institutional memory • São Paulo Art Biennial • Pan-American Union • Modernism • Prints • Post-war Abstractionism • Desire • Demise • São Paulo Bienal • International cultural relations • America • Venice Biennale Model • Christo • Pietro Maria Bardi • Michael Heizer • Colonial art • Contemporary art • Cultural Politics • Exhibition History • Geopolitics • Luca Maria Patella • Educational Practices • Francisco Matarazzo • Colonialism • José Goméz Sicre • Venice Biennale • São Paulo Museum of Modern Art (MAM) • Conceptual Art • Brazilian Art Historiography • Richard Long • Discursive engagement • Transnational networks • Land art • Krakow International Biennial of Graphic Arts • The São Paulo Biennial • Italian Colonialism • Biennials • Yugoslavia
Permalink http://doi.org/10.30687/978-88-6969-910-8 | e-ISBN 978-88-6969-910-8 | Published July 24, 2025 | Language en, it
Copyright © 2025 Anita Orzes, Vittorio Pajusco, Stefania Portinari. This is an open-access work distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction is permitted, provided that the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. The license allows for commercial use. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.