News

Le muse inquiete (The Disquieted Muses). When the Biennale Meets History

Words by Lara Morrell
July 16, 2020

To mark the 125th anniversary of its foundation,La Biennale di Venezia presents Le muse inquiete (The Disquieted Muses). When the Biennale Meets History, an exhibition by the Historical Archives of Contemporary Arts – ASAC in the Central Pavilion of the Giardini della Biennale from Saturday, August 29 to Tuesday, December 8, 2020.

The first exhibition to be curated by all the artistic directors of La Biennale’s six departments – Art, Cinema, Dance, Music, Theatre and Architecture. Working in unison, they have each used the Historical Archives of La Biennale and other Italian and international archives to retrace key Biennale moments throughout the 20th century, underpinning its role as a continuous sensorial witness to the political and social shifts throughout its history via the most innovative currents in the artistic disciplines of each era.

Cecilia Alemani (Art), Alberto Barbera (Cinema), Marie Chouinard (Dance), Ivan Fedele (Music), Antonio Latella (Theatre), and Hashim Sarkis (Architecture) have brought together material from the ASAC, Istituto Luce-Cinecittà and Rai Teche, as well as records from the Galleria Nazionale Arte Moderna di RomaFondazione Modena Arti Visive, Archivio Ugo Mulas, Aamod-Fondazione archivio audiovisivo del movimento operaio e democratico, Archivio Cameraphoto Arte Venezia, IVESER Istituto Veneziano per la Storia della Resistenza e della società contemporanea, Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Fondazione Ugo e Olga Levi, Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia Roma, and Tate Modern London.

Roberto Cicutto, the President of La Biennale di Venezia, expressed his gratitude “for the generous support that the directors and staff of the Historical Archives and the entire Biennale have given to this project, parallel to their work on the exhibitions and festivals. It is one that bolsters La Biennale’s role as a hub of research in the contemporary arts, a fundamental driving force for investigating the present and future, and a strategic tool for development, even in terms of economic growth.”

The exhibition unfolds in the exhibition spaces of the Central Pavilion with rare footage, first-hand accounts, and a range of artworks, taking the viewer on a journey through all six disciplines: from Fascism (1928-1945) to the Cold War and new world order (1948-1964), to the unrest of ’68 and the Biennales chaired by Carlo Ripa di Meana (1974-78), then from the postmodernism to the first Architecture Biennale and until the 1990s, and the beginning of globalization (see attached document “The Rooms” with details).

Keep up to date with My Art Guides
Sign up to our newsletter and stay in the know with all worldwide contemporary art events