A Class Trip to the 60th International Art Exhibition, 20.04–24.11.2024

Abstract

Like all respectable art historians (in training) with an interest in contemporary art, the students of the Art History specialization at Babeș-Bolyai University joined the artworld pilgrimage that transforms the already beyond picturesque Venice into a lagoon-wide venue for contemporary art. I will never stop suggesting this trip, not because of the Biennale shows’ intrinsic value, because it can be hit or miss, but for the experience itself. Asides from the Serenissima, which rarely leaves someone unimpressed, the Biennale is simply a great opportunity to see contemporary art from the highly experimental to the deeply legitimized, from overly simplistic to profoundly conceptual, from sloppy to polished, presented both within white cube settings and in dialogue with Baroque churches, palaces, and other historic sites. This diversity extends not only to the artworks themselves but also to the wide range of curatorial approaches they reflect. This is the greatest advantage and disadvantage of this trip – it is an overdose, often of varying quality, of our drug of choice – art. On my behalf, the 60^th edition was pretty lacklustre overall, and even the major collateral shows, like Julie Mehretu’s Ensemble at Palazzo Grassi, failed to pack a punch. The theme of foreigners often seemed to be translated as a strained relationship with institutions, demonstrated by the large number of works in mediums belonging more to the applied arts, as well as the obvious outsider art inspiration present at every step. This could be seen in national pavilions such as the Serbian one, or even the Romanian one to some extent, and in the wonderfully organic pavilion of Saudi Arabia, where it also took feminist overtones.