The organizers of the national pavilions of the next Venice Architecture Biennale they plan to open with no guests next month due to the pandemic.
Italy is currently in lockdown to combat the third wave of cases. Travel in Europe still limited, several national pavilions of the Venice Biennale, the most prestigious in the world, have canceled their physical events.
Nonetheless, pavilion organizers (including those in Switzerland, the Netherlands and Singapore) have said they plan to host “silent openings” or virtual events.
Pro Helvetia, which organizes the Swiss pavilion, it will make a silent opening. It will not host a public vernissage during the preview days of May 20 and 21. The Singapore Pavilion, instead, has planned an online vernissage for invited guests and media ahead of the official public opening of the Biennale on May 22, 2021.
Guests will not be invited to attend the grand opening in person
The organizers of the Venice Biennale they plan to open the event to the public May 22th.
Usually this first day involves a series of installations hosted at the Arsenale della Biennale. Exhibitions are also planned in the permanent national pavilions within the Giardini della Biennale and further installations throughout the city.
While installations inside many pavilions are complete, organizers do not expect large numbers of visitors at the event which officially begins on May 22. The usual preview days, or vernissages, in the two days before opening to the public are expected to be quiet with several pavilions rearranging physical meetings until the end of the year.
“An online virtual opening event of the Venice Biennale will take place on May 20,” say the organizers of the Dutch pavilion. “Guests will not be invited to attend the grand opening in person but we hope there will be another opportunity to host guests in the fall.”
Other pavilions: the plans are still being studied
The Venice Biennale follows the same tribulations as the Salone del Mobile in Milan, which I told you about a few days ago. In that case, the events of the so-called “FuoriSalone” were moved to September.
The organizers of the event pavilions have said they will confirm the plans in line with government advice and the instructions of the organisers. “The British Council is closely following British and Italian government guidelines regarding travel to and from Venice,” says a representative of the British Council, which organizes the British pavilion .
While plans are still being studied on what form a physical opening event at the UK Pavilion might take, we are prioritizing health and safety by focusing on remote celebrations.
“The pavilion should actually open on May 22,” report the organizers of the Lebanese Pavilion . “However, we are not certain exactly how the opening will take place”.
And who has it? Venice is currently classified as an orange zone by the Italian government. Currently all museums, live performances, fairs and exhibitions as well as bars and restaurants are closed, but the shops are open. The Venice Architecture Biennale, which usually attracts around 250.000 visitors, will run from May 22 to November 21.
