VOYAGE
Biennale Arte 2019: “May You Live in Interesting Times”
Emblem of La Biennale di Venezia..
Emblem of La Biennale di Venezia..
Ralph Rugoff, the curator of the 58th International Art Exhibition, and Paolo Baratta, the President of La Biennale di Venezia. Photo © Andrea Avezzu’_Courtesy of La Biennale di Venezia
The President of La Biennale di Venezia, Paolo Baratta, and the curator, Ralph Rugoff have announced the title of the 58th International Art Exhibition – May You Live in Interesting Times. The name comes from a speech given in the late 1930s by Austen Chamberlain, a member of British Parliament, who invoked an ancient Chinese curse that he had learned of from a British diplomat who had served in Asia.
Ralph Rugoff explains his choice for the title as follows “At a moment when the digital dissemination of fake news and ‘alternative facts’ is corroding political discourse and the trust on which it depends, it is worth pausing whenever possible to reassess our terms of reference. Exhibition will not have a theme per se, but will highlight a general approach to making art and a view of art’s social function as embracing both pleasure and critical thinking.”
The 58th International Art Exhibition aims at to show what is most important about an exhibition is not what it puts on display, but how audiences can use their experience of the exhibition afterwards and thus change their view of that world.
The Biennale Arte 2019 will take place from May 11th to November 24th 2019 in Venice
