From Biennale to Biennials. Cartographies of an Impossible Desire
open access
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edited by
- Anita Orzes - Université Grenoble Alpes - email
- Vittorio Pajusco - Ca' Foscari University of Venice - email
- Stefania Portinari - Ca' Foscari University of Venice - 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 Post-war Abstractionism • Institutional memory • Fabrizio Plessi • Colonial art • The São Paulo Biennial • Modernism • Cultural Politics • Italian Colonialism • Biennials • Demise • Pietro Maria Bardi • Conceptual Art • Educational Practices • Pan-American Union • Colonialism • Venice Biennale Model • Yugoslavia • Luca Maria Patella • José Goméz Sicre • Francisco Matarazzo • Michael Heizer • Christo • São Paulo Bienal • Venice Biennale • São Paulo Biennial • Discursive engagement • Contemporary art • Desire • Transnational networks • Prints • São Paulo Art Biennial • Exhibition History • Land art • Brazilian Art Historiography • America • Krakow International Biennial of Graphic Arts • Richard Long • Geopolitics • São Paulo Museum of Modern Art (MAM) • International cultural relations
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.