From Biennale to Biennials. Cartographies of an Impossible Desire
open access
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edited by
- Anita Orzes - Université Grenoble Alpes - email
- Vittorio Pajusco - Ca' Foscari University of Venice - email
- Stefania Portinari - Ca' Foscari University of Venice - 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 São Paulo Museum of Modern Art (MAM) • Colonial art • Institutional memory • Italian Colonialism • Post-war Abstractionism • Richard Long • Christo • Geopolitics • Cultural Politics • Brazilian Art Historiography • Modernism • Pan-American Union • International cultural relations • São Paulo Art Biennial • Venice Biennale Model • São Paulo Bienal • Exhibition History • São Paulo Biennial • Krakow International Biennial of Graphic Arts • Colonialism • Land art • Contemporary art • Biennials • The São Paulo Biennial • Demise • Transnational networks • Desire • Luca Maria Patella • Pietro Maria Bardi • Prints • Fabrizio Plessi • Educational Practices • Michael Heizer • Francisco Matarazzo • Venice Biennale • Conceptual Art • José Goméz Sicre • Discursive engagement • Yugoslavia • America
Permalink http://doi.org/10.30687/978-88-6969-910-8 | e-ISBN 978-88-6969-910-8 | Published July 24, 2025 | Language en, it
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.