La Biennale di Venezia

You might have noticed this green spot on the map and wondered if it's worth the trip. During the Biennale, art lovers will find themselves here anyway. These relaxed gardens provide a peaceful vantage point over the city and lagoon, far from the crowds and the narrow, claustrophobic streets. Keep in mind that most of the space is closed outside of the Biennale (and requires a valid ticket during the event). However, the strip along the lagoon is open to the public year-round, with shaded areas and benches perfect for resting your feet.

I have visited countless times for the Venice Biennale, and yet every visit feels as extraordinary as the first. Giardini, as always, offers a deeply enriching and unparalleled experience that never loses its magic.

Interesting and very creative art pavilions surrounded by stunning gardens. The experience itself varies greatly from one pavilion to another, with some being highly conceptual, others experiential, and some quite focused and straightforward. Visitors should understand that the location is a sizable garden. Wear comfortable shoes and be prepared to spend a good few hours here; quite a bit of which is outside as you move from one pavilion to the next. I recommend you buy your tickets beforehand as there's quite a queue. The day we visited, we queued for a good 15 minutes, even with tickets.

Needs better eat /drink places with AC. Is interesting but a bit arid like walking a desert. Need good footwear is gravel so shoes get wrecked. Feels like an endurance test. However some great art, some strange and a lot of video installations of spaceships and aliens. Glad I went was a long term pilgrimage but found Michelangelo’s David in florence the real art visit that touched the soul. Beautiful setting. Did eat in the cafe a Caesar salad, beer and bag of crisps. Feels necessary to sit with the heat.

Not everything great too many people also not very organized The curation this year for me is too political right, I feel “foreigners ”should be broader than that. A pity most curators chose certain kind of artists to represent the idea which is a bit of white supremacy feeling

The Venice Biennale is one of the most famous and probably one of the most important international exhibitions of contemporary art. There are two main venues. We started at the The Giardini, gardens renowned for their art. This is where the numerous pavilions dedicated to the participating nations are located. The gardens were laid out at the beginning of the 19th century at the request of Napoleon Bonaparte. Being a weekday and off season we had no lines and few people to deal with! The Arsenale was the largest production center of boats in Venice during the pre-industrial era and became a symbol of the economic, political and military power of the city. Since 1980 the Arsenale has become an exhibition site of La Biennale. It is one of the longest buildings I have ever seen. This is where the artwork tends to follow this year’s theme, ‘Foreigners Everywhere’. We are proud to say that the US pavilion stood out as the best of all the countries this year. The U.S. Pavilion is a riot of color, thanks to Choctaw-Cherokee artist Jeffrey Gibson, who is the first Indigenous artist to represent the nation solo at the Venice Biennale. His exhibition, titled “the space in which to place me” really wowed us! Held every two years. We have gone seven times and every time it is unique and amazing!

Wow! I've waited many years to experience this art festival, and it was worth it!! Such a powerful and huge display of contemporary art spread over multiple locations in Venice -- definitely recommend!!

While the exhibits were for most of them ( those we managed to visit as one would need a real full day) the environment especially the toilets were not acceptable see the pictures attached . It is a shame to accept visitors with such equipments .

We were convinced that this was the only way to see the Venice Arsenal, so we paid 30€ each to wach some art of dubious taste/value. It turned out that it was possible to visit the Arsenal for free by another route and the staff didn’t tell us. We felt scammed. The Arsenal istelf as a place has more historical and artistic value than 90% of the crap there.

Pavilion after pavilion of purposely ambiguous and artistically lazy displays that no one will care about nor remember in a few months time. I venture to say that these people actually hate art and its beauty so much that they want to erase it from civilisation. But we had a good laugh at the Emperor having no clothes.