From Biennale to Biennials. Cartographies of an Impossible Desire
open access | peer reviewed
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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 International cultural relations • Italian Colonialism • Transnational networks • Biennials • Conceptual Art • Venice Biennale Model • Richard Long • São Paulo Museum of Modern Art (MAM) • Institutional memory • Desire • Cultural Politics • José Goméz Sicre • Pan-American Union • São Paulo Biennial • Brazilian Art Historiography • The São Paulo Biennial • Contemporary art • Michael Heizer • Geopolitics • Francisco Matarazzo • Krakow International Biennial of Graphic Arts • Exhibition History • Demise • Discursive engagement • Venice Biennale • São Paulo Bienal • America • Educational Practices • Post-war Abstractionism • Colonial art • Prints • Colonialism • Modernism • Fabrizio Plessi • Pietro Maria Bardi • São Paulo Art Biennial • Christo • Luca Maria Patella • Yugoslavia • Land art
Permalink http://doi.org/10.30687/978-88-6969-910-8 | e-ISBN 978-88-6969-910-8 | Published July 24, 2025 | Language it, en
Subseries Atlante delle Biennali e-ISSN 2724-136X ISSN 2704-9973
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.