From Biennale to Biennials. Cartographies of an Impossible Desire
open access
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edited by
- Anita Orzes - Universitat de Barcelona, España; Université Grenoble Alpes, France - email
- Vittorio Pajusco - Università Ca' Foscari Venezia - email
- Stefania Portinari - Università Ca’ Foscari Venezia, Italia - email orcid profile
Abstract
This volume explores the biennial phenomenon examining their artistic, geopolitical, and institutional dimensions. While primarily centred on these two major events, as the Venice and São Paulo biennials, the essays in this book also enlarge upon other biennials, exhibitions and institutions, offering comparative and relational insights. Ultimately, the volume highlights the historical complexity of biennials and their roles as cultural devices, underscoring their function as spaces of experimentation and legitimation amid broader political and institutional tensions.
Keywords Land art • São Paulo Museum of Modern Art (MAM) • Pan-American Union • Pietro Maria Bardi • José Goméz Sicre • Venice Biennale • Colonial art • Biennials • Brazilian Art Historiography • Luca Maria Patella • Demise • Contemporary art • Conceptual Art • Yugoslavia • Christo • Post-war Abstractionism • The São Paulo Biennial • America • São Paulo Biennial • Transnational networks • Colonialism • São Paulo Art Biennial • Italian Colonialism • Exhibition History • Richard Long • Cultural Politics • Prints • Desire • Discursive engagement • Geopolitics • International cultural relations • Krakow International Biennial of Graphic Arts • Michael Heizer • São Paulo Bienal • Institutional memory • Modernism • Educational Practices • Francisco Matarazzo • Venice Biennale Model • Fabrizio Plessi
Permalink http://doi.org/10.30687/978-88-6969-910-8 | e-ISBN 978-88-6969-910-8 | ISBN (PRINT) 978-88-6969-912-2 | Published July 24, 2025 | Language it, en
Copyright © 2025 Anita Orzes, Vittorio Pajusco, Stefania Portinari. This is an open-access work distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction is permitted, provided that the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. The license allows for commercial use. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.