57th Venice Biennale explained

Genre:	Art exhibition
Prev:	56th Venice Biennale (2015)
Begins:	May 13, 2017
Ends:	November 26, 2017
Next:	58th Venice Biennale (2019)
Location:	Venice
Country:	Italy

The 57th Venice Biennale was an international contemporary art exhibition held between May and November 2017. The Venice Biennale takes place biennially in Venice, Italy. Artistic director Christine Macel, the chief curator at the Centre Pompidou, curated its central exhibition, "Viva Arte Viva", as a series of interconnected pavilions designed to reflect art's capacity for expanding humanism. The curator also organized a project, "Unpacking My Library", based on a Walter Benjamin essay, to list artists' favorite books.^[1] Macel was the first French director since 1995 and the fourth woman to direct the Biennale.^[2] A trend of presenting overlooked, rediscovered, or "emerging dead artists" was a theme of the 57th Biennale.^[3]

Awards

• Golden Lion for best national participation: German pavilion (Anne Imhof)
• Special mention as national participation: Brazilian pavilion (Cinthia Marcelle)
• Golden Lion for best artist in the central exhibition: Franz Erhard Walther
• Silver Lion for most promising young artist in the central exhibition: Hassan Khan
• Special mentions: Charles Atlas and Petrit Halilaj
• Golden Lion for lifetime achievement: Carolee Schneemann^{[4] [5]}

The Diaspora Pavilion

The Diaspora Pavilion was an exhibition of 19 contemporary artists held during the 57th Venice Biennale.^[6] It was exhibited at the Palazzo Pisani Santa Maria from the 13th of May - 26 November 2017.^[7]

The Diaspora Pavilion was established in order to diversify the Venice Biennale and address the lack of representation of people of colour within the visual arts more widely.^[8] The Pavilion provided a space for artists from diverse backgrounds to exhibit work exploring the concept of diaspora. This created a critical counter-narrative to the Venice Biennale by questioning the very idea of nationhood and challenging the prevalence of the nation state at the Biennale.^[9]

The Diaspora Pavilion was co-founded by David Bailey, Nicola Green, Peter Clayton, and David Lammy, and curated by David Bailey and Jessica Taylor. This was the product of a wider programme - The Diaspora Platform - which provided mentoring workshops and networking opportunities to emerging BAME artists in conjunction with a curators programme established by the International Curators Forum.^[10]

Further reading

• Web site: Carli . Giovanni . Venice Biennale 2017: what to see in the Central Pavilion . ELLE Decor . 2017-05-24 . 2019-02-27 . mdy-all .
• Web site: Droitcour . Brian . Critical Eye: Venice: Off Beat . . 2017-08-30 . 2018-06-20 . mdy-all .
• Web site: Fox . Dan . 57th Venice Biennale: the Arsenale . . 2017-05-11 . 2019-02-27 . mdy-all .
• Web site: Higgie . Jennifer . 57th Venice Biennale: Arsenale Pavilions . . 2017-05-12 . 2019-02-27 . mdy-all .
• Web site: Jayawardane . M. Neelika . Black presences at the Venice Biennale . Al Jazeera . 2017-05-20 . 2020-01-26 . mdy-all .
• Koon . Yeewan . What is the sound of failed aspirations? Samson Young's Songs for Disaster Relief . Yishu: Journal of Contemporary Chinese Art . 16 . 5 . 2017-10-01 . 2022-08-03 . 28-36 . en . mdy-all .
• News: Kuo . Michelle . Maiden Voyage . . 2017-05-01 . mdy-all . June 25, 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20181118014333/https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P4-1897660404.html . November 18, 2018 . dead .
• Web site: Rivetti . Ermanno . Guide to Asian pavilions at the 2017 Venice Biennale . . 2017-03-23 . 2019-05-12 . mdy-all .
• Web site: Roux . Caroline . African artists at the Venice Biennale . . 2017-05-05 . 2020-01-26 . https://archive.today/20200126050858/https://www.ft.com/content/bd0cb2f0-2b2e-11e7-bc4b-5528796fe35c . January 26, 2020 . mdy-all . live .
• Siegert . Nadine . A Summer of Art? . . 51 . 1 . 1–7 . 2018-02-17 . 10.1162/AFAR_a_00387 . en . 1937-2108 . . mdy-all .
• Web site: Thackara . Tess . Despite Obstacles, African Countries Shine at the Venice Biennale . . 2017-05-24 . en . 2020-01-26 . mdy-all .
• Web site: The Most Important Artworks of the 2010s . ARTnews.com . 2019-11-28 . en-US . 2019-12-29 . mdy-all .
• News: F.R. . The importance of the Venice Biennale . . 2017-05-12 . 0013-0613 . mdy-all .
• Web site: Venice Biennale: African pavilions and the politics of space – The Mail & Guardian . Mail & Guardian . 2017-05-19 . en-ZA . 2020-01-26 . mdy-all .
• Web site: Volk . Gregory . The Artist's Sake: Christine Macel's Venice Biennale . . 2017-05-15 . 2018-06-20 . mdy-all .

Notes and References

1. Web site: Greenberger . Alex . Christine Macel's 2017 Venice Biennale Exhibition Gets a Title: 'Viva Arte Viva' . . 2016-09-22 . en-US . 2019-05-27 . mdy-all . https://web.archive.org/web/20160923180445/http://www.artnews.com/2016/09/22/christine-macels-2017-venice-biennale-exhibition-gets-a-title-viva-arte-viva/ . September 23, 2016 . live .
2. Web site: Russeth . Andrew . Venice Biennale Taps Christine Macel to Be Artistic Director of 2017 Edition . . 2016-01-23 . en-US . 2019-05-27 . mdy-all . https://web.archive.org/web/20160406120041/http://www.artnews.com/2016/01/23/venice-biennale-taps-christine-macel-to-be-artistic-director-of-2017-edition/ . April 6, 2016 . live .
3. Web site: Pes . Javier . 'We Can All Be in Different Worlds': Ralph Rugoff's Venice Biennale Will Respond to the Rise of Fake News . . 2018-07-16 . 2018-07-17 . mdy-all . https://web.archive.org/web/20180717033705/https://news.artnet.com/exhibitions/ralph-rugoffs-venice-biennale-will-respond-to-the-rise-of-fake-news-1318682 . July 17, 2018 . live .
4. News: Farago . Jason . Anne Imhof, Fierce Young Artist and Choreographer, Wins Venice's Top Prize . . 2017-12-22 . en-US . 0362-4331 . mdy-all . May 27, 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190505221526/https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/13/arts/anne-imhof-fierce-young-artist-and-choreographer-wins-venices-top-prize.html . May 5, 2019 . live .
5. Web site: Russeth. Andrew. 2017-05-13. Golden Lions in Venice for Anne Imhof and Franz Erhard Walther, Silver for Hassan Khan. 2020-08-03. ARTnews.com. en-US.
6. Web site: Pritchard . Claudia . Academicians to spot in Venice: Phyllida Barlow’s British pavilion and more . Royal Academy . RA Magazine . 3 July 2020.
7. Web site: Isaac Julien featured in Diaspora Pavilion, Venice Biennale 2017 . Victoria Miro . Victoria Miro . 3 July 2020.
8. News: Jayawardane . M Neelika . Black presences at the Venice Biennale . 3 July 2020 . Al Jeezera . 20 May 2017.
9. Web site: Douglas . Caroline . Diaspora Pavilion at the Venice Biennale . Contemporary Art Society . 3 July 2020.
10. Web site: McLean . Sarah . Chelsea at the Venice Biennale 2017 . Arts.ac.uk . 3 July 2020.