Venice Art Biennale

What:  The ‘Olympics of the art world’ the Venice Bien­nale com­pris­es of a large-scale six-month exhi­bi­tion that show­cas­es the best of both art (odd years) and archi­tec­ture (even years) in the serene set­ting of Venice.

While the theme switch­es every two years, the show­cas­ing of art which began in 1895 has grown from being a cel­e­bra­tion of local venet­ian art to a show­case of inter­na­tion­al cul­ture and art, with there being three main parts of the Bien­nale – the cen­tral exhi­bi­tion at the Cen­tral pavil­ion in the Gia­r­di­ni del­la bien­nale – which see’s over 30 coun­tries hav­ing their own ded­i­cat­ed pavil­ion — the pre­sen­ta­tions and exhibits housed at the nation­al pavil­ions, and the inde­pen­dent­ly organ­ised and break­out and wild events that take place all over the city, with the fes­ti­val also fea­tur­ing pan­els, screen­ings and ban­quets and con­clud­ing with an exclu­sive award pan­el that judges and declares the best of the worlds art.

When:  The Venice Art Bien­nale takes place every 2 years in odd num­bered years, with the next exhi­bi­tion set for 2021 and then tak­ing place every two years fol­low­ing that, with the exhi­bi­tion begin­ning in May and last­ing to Novem­ber. The archi­tec­ture bien­nale takes place in even num­bered years, with the next one set for 2022.

Where: The Venice Bien­nales are held in venues all over Venice, but the main stages for the first part of the fes­ti­val and the exhi­bi­tions are the cen­tral pavil­ion in the Gia­r­di­ni del­la bien­nale and the Arse­nale exhi­bi­tion spaces.

Dura­tion: Both Venice Bien­nales offi­cial­ly lasts for six months ! with the days entry to the exhibits begin­ning at 9:30am and clos­ing at 18:30pm – so it’s advised to vis­it the link below to find your pre­ferred show and plan around that.

Tick­ets:  Tick­ets are avail­able for both bien­nales at (https://www.labiennale.org/en/tickets) or you can pur­chase tick­ets on the day to enter if not avail­able on the link above, tick­ets typ­i­cal­ly cost  €20 for a days entry to the exhibits.

Need to Know: It’s advised to pick your times when vis­it­ing Venice and the fes­ti­val, with the peri­od between mid-June to mid Sep­tem­ber typ­i­cal­ly very busy and filled with vis­i­tors – result­ing in both crowds, increased prices and a rush for accom­mo­da­tion.

More Infor­ma­tion: The offi­cial Venice bien­nale web­site (https://www.labiennale.org/en) con­tains infor­ma­tion on exhi­bi­tions, dates and tick­ets for both bien­nales.