designboom’s guide to the 2024 venice art biennale

60th VENICE ART BIENNALE SPOTLIGHTS FOREIGNERS EVERYWHERE

Set to take place from April 20 to November 24, 2024, the 60th edition of the Venice Art Biennale is curated by Adriano Pedrosa under the theme Foreigners Everywhere (Stranieri Ovunque). The title is derived from a series of works created starting in 2004 by the collective Claire Fontaine, born in Paris and based in Palermo. The works consist of neon sculptures of various colors featuring the words ‘Stranieri Ovunque’ in different languages. The expression was, in turn, taken from the name of a Turin-based collective from the early 2000s that fought against racism and xenophobia in Italy.

The exhibition will spotlight artists from diverse backgrounds, giving space and visibility to previously marginalized groups, such as immigrants, expatriates, queer people, and indigenous individuals. According to Adriano Pedrosa, the title of the 2024 Biennale Arte has a dual meaning. ‘First of all, wherever you go, you will always encounter foreigners—they/we are everywhere. Secondly, no matter where you find yourself, you are always, truly, and deep down inside, a foreigner,’ he explains. ‘I am honored and humbled by this prestigious appointment, especially as the first Latin American to curate the International Art Exhibition, and in fact the first one based in the Southern Hemisphere,’ he adds.

In anticipation of the upcoming art exhibition, designboom explores the world of the 2024 Venice Art Biennale. From the recipients of the Golden Lions Lifetime Achievement Award to national pavilion participations, discover the latest updates below.

the Gaggiandre | image by Andrea Avezzu, courtesy La Biennale di Venezia (also head image)

THE Golden Lions Lifetime Achievement Award

The Golden Lions for Lifetime Achievement at the 60th International Art Exhibition have been awarded to Italian-born, Brazilian artist Anna Maria Maiolino and Paris-based, Turkish artist Nil Yalter. The decision was approved by the Biennale’s Board of Directors, chaired by Roberto Cicutto, upon the recommendation of curator Adriano Pedrosa, and the awards ceremony will be held alongside the inauguration of the 60th exhibition on Saturday April 20, 2024, at Ca’ Giustinian, the headquarters of La Biennale.

‘This decision is particularly significant,’ states Adriano Pedrosa. ‘In light of the title and context of the Exhibition, which focuses on artists who have traveled and migrated between North and South, Europe and other countries, or vice versa. In this sense, my choice falls on two extraordinary and pioneering artists, as well as migrants, who in many ways embody the spirit of ‘Stranieri Ovunque – Foreigners Everywhere’: Anna Maria Maiolino (born in Scalea, Italy, 1942; residing in São Paulo, Brazil), who emigrated from Italy to South America, first to Venezuela and then to Brazil, where she currently lives, and Nil Yalter (born in Cairo, Egypt, 1938; residing in Paris, France), a Turk who moved from Cairo to Istanbul and finally to Paris, where she resides.’

portrait of Anna Maria Maiolino | image by Maycon Lima

Born in Italy in 1942, Anna Maria Maiolino studied art in Venezuela and continued her artistic journey in Brazil. Maiolino, who considers herself as self-taught, became part of the Brazilian art movement known as Nova Figuração during the 1960s. She continued to develop her artistic language and skills in Rio de Janeiro and New York. Maiolino’s works from the 1960s were known for their combination of pop imagery with political and personal themes. In the 1970s and 1980s, she ventured into performance art, creating works like Entrevidas, which featured scattered eggs to symbolize life’s fragility. In the 1990s, she began working with clay, focusing on tactile and sensory expression.

For the 60th International Art Exhibition of the Venice Biennale, Maiolino will present a new large-scale work that extends and develops her series of clay sculptures and installations. This marks her first participation in the Biennale Arte.

portrait of Nil Yalter | imagee by Oliver Abraham

Nil Yalter is a Turkish artist born in Cairo, Egypt, on January 15, 1938, who moved to Paris in 1965, where she still resides. She is considered a pioneer of the global feminist art movement. Yalter never received formal education in the field of visual arts and, as a self-taught artist, conducted continuous research into her practices and areas of interest, spanning from painting to drawing, video, sculpture, and installation. Her artistic career began in 1957 when she held her first exhibition at the French Cultural Institute in Mumbai, India. However, it was during the 1960s that she delved deeper into her practice.

For the 60th International Art Exhibition, Yalter will present a reconfiguration of her innovative installation Exile is a hard job, along with her iconic work Topak Ev (1973), displayed in the first room of the Central Pavilion at the Gardens. This will be her first participation in the Art Biennale as well.

Nil Yalter: Exile Is a Hard Job | image courtesy of Center for Curatorial Studies, Bard College

national pavilions at the 2024 VENICE ART BIENNALE

Most of the participating countries have already announced the artists who will represent them in this year’s Venice Art Biennale. Swiss-born and Brazil-based artist Guerreiro Do Divino Amor has been commissioned to take over the Swiss Pavilion. Curated by Andrea Bellini, the pavilion will feature the artist’s monumental project Super Superior Civilizations which explores the imageries of political mythologies and their usage. Contemporary art duo Pakui Hardware and modernist painter Marija Teresė Rožanskaitė have been chosen to represent Lithuania. The Lithuanian Pavilion will be organized by The Lithuanian National Museum of Art and curated by Valentinas Klimasauskas and João Laia. Artist Vlatka Horvat will represent Croatia.

Meanwhile, Archie Moore will represent Australia with the exhibition to be curated by Ellie Buttrose, curator of Contemporary Australian Art at the Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art. Celebrated for an artistic practice that combines american, indigenous, and queer histories with influences from music and pop culture,

Jeffrey Gibson will represent the United States.

The Miracle of Helvetia (2022) | image © Guerreiro Do Divino Amor

Contemporary photographer Roberto Huarcaya will represent Peru, with the project Cosmic Traces, curated by Alejandro León Cannock. Artist Luciana Lamothe will represent Argentina with an installation called I hope the doors collapse. Curated by Sofia Dourron, the project intertwines materials and bodies in an organism whose livelihood depends on the alliance between each of its elements.

The Fundação Bienal de São Paulo has revealed Arissana Pataxó, Denilson Baniwa, and Gustavo Caboco Wapichana as the curators of the Brazilian Pavilion. Artist Glicéria Tupinambá, a representative of the Tupinambá indigenous people, will present the exhibition Ka’a Pûera: Nós Somos Pássaros Que Andam [Ka’a Pûera: We Are Walking Birds]. The exhibition will also see the Brazil Pavilion renamed as the Hãhãwpuá Pavilion, symbolizing Brazil as an indigenous territory, with ‘Hãhãw’ meaning ‘land’ in the Pataxohã language.

portrait of Glicéria Tupinambá

Emirati artist Abdullah Al Saadi will represent the United Arab Emirates. Curated by Tarek Abou El Fetouh, the solo exhibition marks the artist’s return to Venice following his project participation in the main exhibition at the 57th international art exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia in 2017. Artist Trevor Yeung will represent Hong Kong with a solo show curated by Olivia Chow, Both the artist and the curator have been jointly selected by M+, Museum of Visual Culture, and the Hong Kong Arts Development Council (HKADC). Last but not least, Singaporean artist Robert Zhao Renhui and curator Haeju Kim are the representatives for Singapore. For the Singapore Pavilion, Zhao turns his gaze towards secondary forests amid Singapore’s urban environment, working with Kim to provide a vision for a more ecologically minded future.

artist Robert Zhao Renhui with curator Haeju Kim, 2023 | image courtesy of the artist

The Republic of Benin is set to make its inaugural appearance at the 60th International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia. Titled Everything Precious Is Fragile, the exhibition delves into Benin’s rich history, exploring themes such as the slave trade, the Amazon motif, spirituality, and the Vodun religion. Additionally, it ventures into contemporary realms with the Gèlèdé philosophy, emphasizing rematriation—an approach advocating not just the return of objects but also the restoration of Beninese philosophy and ideals from before the colonial era, particularly through a feminist interpretation of restitution. Curated by Azu Nwagbogu and his team, which includes curator Yassine Lassissi and scenographer Franck Houndégla, the exhibition features four artists: Chloé Quenum, Moufouli Bello, Ishola Akpo, and Romuald Hazoumè.

Artist-curators Mónica de Miranda, Sónia Vaz Borges, and Vânia Gala will represent Portugal at the 60th Venice Biennale with their project ‘GREENHOUSE.’ The Pavilion, located in Palazzo Franchetti, will feature a Creole garden and challenge rigid ideas of identity, culture, nation, and belonging. The exploration of intersections between ecology, art, and politics will be a central theme.

This project aligns with the 50th anniversary of the Carnation Revolution, which marked the end of the Portuguese dictatorship, and the centenary of Amílcar Cabral’s birth, a key revolutionary in promoting independence in Portuguese colonies in Africa. The Portuguese Official Representation for this project is commissioned by the Directorate-General for the Arts.

Collateral Events at the 2024 Venice Biennale

There are 30 projects selected as Collateral Events by the curator of the 60th International Art Exhibition, Adriano Pedrosa. Collateral Events, promoted by national and international non-profit entities and institutions, are organized in various locations throughout the city of Venice. They offer a wide range of contributions and participations that enrich the International Exhibitions of the Venice Biennale.

This year’s edition features projects from Bangkok, Barcelona, Berlin, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Gangneung-si, Gottinga, Gwangju, Hannover, Palestine, Hong Kong, Lagos, London, Long Beach, Macao, Madrid, Mumbai, New York, Paris, San Juan, Seoul, Solingen, Taipei, Toronto, Venice, Wakefield, Warsaw, and Wonju-Si.

portrait of Adriano Pedrosa | image courtesy La Biennale di Venezia