The 2019 Venice Art Biennale
At the end of May, Mr East and Mrs Tibbatts took thirteen pupils - all budding artists - to Venice to attend the 2019 Venice Art Biennale ‘May You Live In Interesting Times’.
The title alludes to periods of uncertainty, crisis, and turmoil and it was expected that the Exhibition would focus on the work of artists who challenge existing habits and so was expected to be controversial and thought-provoking.
One the first day the pupils visited the Arsenalle – the first location for the Venice Biennale. The pupils were met by an impressive young Italian guide who showed them around the exhibits and encouraged them to share their opinions of the work and the artists’ intentions. This really helped the pupils to engage and fully understand the intentions of the Curator, who oversaw the whole event. It was great for pupils to spend some free time exploring the whole site, and they were regularly spotted sketching or photographing work as they walked around.
On day two, the pupils visited Giardini - the second main location for the Venice Biennale. The Giardini is an area of parkland at the far end of the island, and where various nations have their own Pavilions built to exhibit their artists’ work. The site itself is stunning and is a calm oasis after the chaos of the tourists and boats in central Venice. They were greeted once again by a host from the Biennale and given a guided tour of the site and the main Pavilions.
It was great to see such variety of work from so many nations and the pupils all had their own story to tell about what they saw or what moved them. The over arching theme of ‘May You Live In Interesting Times’ certainly got pupils thinking hard about mankind’s impact on the world, and how art can influence our ways of looking at global issues. Later seeing large cruise ships heading into the area further highlighted the environmental damage blighting the beauty of the city.
Late in the afternoon the group headed back across the water to the Peggy Guggenheim museum where pupils were able to see some of the all-time great modern artists whose work she had collected during her time in Venice.
All-in-all this was a great trip which provided the pupils with much inspiration for their own artistic works.
Please see further images below of this wonderful trip
