Summertime around the world is associated with a plethora of events, festivals and other happenings as people like to be out and about rather than cooped up at home like they are during the winter months. Accordingly, several European cities will host major contemporary art exhibitions during the summer of 2009 which are bound to enthrall and delight the hordes.
These art fests usually feature many allied local events and boisterous parties as the entire host city comes together to celebrate its art appreciation event.
The 53rd International Venice Biennial Art Exhibition
The Venice Biennial Art fair is considered to be the grand-daddy of all these art fairs. The Venice Biennial Art kicks off on the 7th of June, 2009 and continues until the 22nd of November 2009. This grand art exhibition attracts the world’s most well known artists, dealers, buyers, collectors, in addition to celebrities, art enthusiasts, students and ordinary tourists.
The central theme of this year’s Venice Biennial Art is ‘Making Worlds’. This international art exhibit this year has been curated by Daniel Bimbaum, who is the contributing editor of Art Forum Magazine. The main exhibition venues of the Biennial are the Giardini Gardens and the Arsenale area though there are also other venues in Venice which host some sections of the Biennial Art.
The Giardini gardens are the municipal gardens of Venice that are located in the Castello district in the eastern part of Venice. The gardens have been associated with the International art fest since 1895. Located here is the Palazzo delle Esposizioni and the 29 national pavilions which were built by the various countries that usually participate in the Venice Biennial Art Exhibition. In addition to the gardens, the Venetian dockyard area , the Arsenale also hosts some of the exhibits of the Venice Biennial Art. Countries that do not have a national pavilion in the gardens will exhibit their works at other venues around Venice.
The Venice Biennial Art has a rich history that dates back to the late nineteenth century as it was first held in April 1895, to celebrate the silver anniversary of King Umberto and Margherita of Savoy. In its debut year, the exhibition attracted more than 200,000 people and since then has gone on to become one of the world’s most important art exhibitions.
The event this year will also honor two important contemporary artists of our time –Yoko Ono and John Baldessari, who will be awarded with Golden Lions for Lifetime Achievement Awards. For more information on participating artists and tickets for the 53rd Biennial Art do visit the official website of the exhibition.
Athens Biennale
The city of Athens which is steeped in art and culture held its first Biennale in 2007. The 2007 Biennale which revolved around the central theme of Destroy Athens attracted in excess of 50,000 visitors and was declared a rousing success. This year, the second Athens Biennale will take place from 15th June to 4th October and will once again feature exhibits of local artistic production as well as talks and discussions on the international art scene. The 2009 Athens Biennale has a central theme called ‘Heaven.’ This Biennale promises to be a major contemporary art event which will feature art exhibitions, music and theater performances, film screenings and discussions. Further, the Athens Biennale will feature over a 100 international artists.
This art fair is organized by the Athens Biennale Non-Profit Organization which was founded in 2005. The many exhibitions and events of the Biennale will be held at various buildings and public spaces located in a picturesque beach front suburb of Athens, called Palaio Faliro.
Istanbul Biennial
In addition to these two Biennials which are to be held at the beginning of summer, another Biennial is scheduled to be held at the fag-end of summer in the Turkish capital of Istanbul from the 12th of September to the 8th of November. The eleventh Istanbul Biennial will be curated by the Croatian collective of curators called What, How & for Whom / WHW. The Istanbul Biennial is a prestigious event which provides a valuable platform for dialogue and interaction with a number of national and international artists.
Art Basel
Considered to be the world’s premier modern art event, the 40th Art Basel will take place from June 9th to June 14th 2009. Admittance on the first day of the fair will be limited to invited guests but the general public will be able to access this fantastic display of modern art from the 10th of June onwards.
This prestigious art event attracts the participation of more than 300 art galleries from North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia and Africa as it showcases the works of 2500 established and up and coming artists. Art Basel features various different sections like Art Unlimited, Art Premiere and Art Statements that showcase paintings, sculptures, drawings, installations, photographs, video, multimedia, digital art and several other kinds of art works. Nearly 60,000 people usually visit the Art Basel so much so that the New York Times has described the event as the ‘Olympics of the Art World.’
The culturally rich city of Basel which enjoys a strategic location at the junction of the border between Switzerland, France and Germany becomes a Mecca for art lovers, dealers, collectors, students for the entire duration of Art Basel, when a unique festive atmosphere encompasses the entire city. This invigorating art extravaganza is usually held at Halls 1 and 2 of Messe Basel located at Messeplatz in downtown Basel. For more information on guided tours, tickets, children’s events and film screenings during Art Basel do visit the official website of Art Basel.
This year the many events of Art Basel also include a special event called “Il Tempo del Postino”, which has been described as a visual arts opera that was first performed at the Manchester International Festival in 2007. This event features the amalgamation of a traditional art exhibition with theater as it presents a sequential display of time based art on a theater stage.
Scope Basel
Along with Art Basel, the city of Basel will also play host to smaller international art exhibition called Scope Basel. Scope Basel, which celebrates its third anniversary this year, will be held from the 8th of June to the 14th of June at Sportplatz Landhof which is in close proximity to Messeplatz ,the home of Art Basel. Scope Basel will showcase works that have been sourced from over 85 galleries from around the world.
Ready to check out these festivals but accommodation an issue in some cities? Why not try the Bauer Hotel or the Bella Venezia Hotel in Venice, the Melia Athens or the Delphi Art hotel in Athens, The Celal Sultan Hotel in Istanbul and the Metropol Swiss Quality Hotel or the Euler Hotel in the city of Basel. Who knows…upon visiting these art fests, you may be inspired to be the next great artist of our time!
If you liked this post subscribe to our feed to get regular updates.
This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 20th, 2009 at 10:02 pm and is filed under Culture, Europe. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
May 21st, 2009 at 5:21 pm
What an interesting and info packed site. Thanks for this, I really appreciate what you have done here. Keep it up, and I will be back for more.
May 21st, 2009 at 8:43 pm
Thank you for your kind comments.
May 23rd, 2009 at 9:19 pm
It is very interesting post. Thanks for sharing with us.
Thank You..
May 24th, 2009 at 4:48 am
Thank you. Do check back often for similar posts.