Venice Biennale 2024: Guide to visiting the most important art exhibition in Italy

During the Venice Biennale 2024 magic is everywhere, you will find it in the most representative locations of the Biennale: Giardini and the Arsenale, but also in every street and field where you can meet artists, curators, critics and art enthusiasts from all over the world, and again in historic buildings where exhibitions, in-depth studies and retrospectives appear.

During the Biennale the beauty of the ancient contained in the heart of Venice meets the energies of the contemporary, giving life to a myriad of new projects and ideas, which suggest new visions of the world. The Venice Biennale 2024 is your chance to be at the center of the international art scene, a long and ideal moment to visit the most fascinating city in the world. Art Biennal 2024 and Venice, is a combination of intriguing beauty. Discover everything you need to know to visit it at its best

The 60th international art exhibition of the Venice Biennale 2024 takes place from 20 April and will close its doors on Sunday 24 November 2024. The curator of the Biennale this year is Adriano Pedrosa, of Brazilian origin. It is the first year in the entire history of the Biennale that the direction of the exhibition goes to a representative of the southern hemisphere of the world. Pedrosa is the Artistic Director of the Art Museum of Sao Paulo, Brazil.

The theme chosen by Pedrosa is very significant Foreigners everywhere which refers to the condition of the foreigner, studied from different perspectives. As every year, the Biennale will be in the two locations of the Giardini and the Arsenale (historical core and contemporary core). The 2024 Venice Biennale has favored artists who have never participated in the international exhibition, special attention is paid to outdoor projects, both at the Arsenale and in the Giardini, and to a performance program. But Venice in this period is also the Fuori Biennale (outside the Biennale), made up of the many exhibitions organized around the city and on the islands. If your visit to the Biennale is part of a broader visit also aimed at the most important attractions of the Lagoon, consider the Venice Pass.

The theme of the Venice Biennale 2024 is understood, as the curator himself explains, in a very broad sense. Foreigners are the artists who have traveled and migrated between North and South and vice versa. Foreigners are queer artists, who move through different genders and sexualities and are often banned, foreigners are outsider artists, on the margins of the art world, such as self-taught or indigenous artists, treated as foreigners even inside of their land. These are the subjects that will constitute the contemporary nucleus of the 2024 Venice Biennale edition.

For the title Stranieri Ovunque – Foreigners Everywhere Pedrosa was inspired by a series of works created since 2004 by the Claire Fontaine collective, born in Paris and based in Palermo, which in turn took it from the name of a collective of the same name from Turin, who fought racism and xenophobia in Italy in the early 2000s. This Biennial invites us to comprehension, also understood as self-understanding and inclusion of the other.

The Venice Biennale is a special moment that brings the whole city to life, it can be helpful to understand how the various exhibitions are located, to move easily according to your interests. In this article we will explain to you step by step how the 60th international art exhibition in Venice is structured.

It is useful to know that the two main venues of the Venice Biennale 2024 are the Giardini and the Arsenale, each venue includes two sections: one dedicated to the international exhibition Stranieri Ovunque – Foreigners Everywhere, curated by Adriano Pedrosa, and one dedicated to National Participations, (Don't miss your country's pavilion). The start of the visit can begin without distinction from one location or the other. There is also the Fuori Biennale (outside the Biennal) which takes place in foundations, galleries, museums, buildings and even churches. How much time it takes to visit the 2024 Venice Biennale will depend on you, a day may be enough to get an idea, but weeks may not be enough if you want to delve deeper into each work.

The Gardens are the birthplace of the Venice Biennale and of the idea of the Biennale of Visual Arts. The first edition of the Biennale took place here way back in 1895, over time the National Pavilions were built by the various states. The entrance to the Gardens is in viale Trento 1260 and from Sant'Elena (Viale IV Novembre). The route that will take you to the Gardens is very suggestive and offers all the magic of Venice in an instant. If you come from Piazza San Marco you will have to head north-east from Riva degli Schiavoni, a pleasant walk next to the sea of just under half an hour.

The Gardens now host 29 pavilions from foreign countries, some of these pavilions were designed and built by famous architects. Inside the gardens of the 2024 Venice Biennale, you will find the Historical Core in the Central Pavilion which explores global and Southern modernisms, with 20th century works from Latin America, Africa, Asia and the Arab world, also featuring some works by Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera. In the contemporary nucleus of the national pavilions, the Israel Pavilion stands out, which has been set up but not open to the public and displays the sign closed until the hostages are freed and there is a ceasefire. The United States of America Pavilion with the title The space in which to place me inspired by the poetry of Layli Long Soldier, a provocative manifesto on inclusiveness by the artist Jeffrey Gibson, which pushes the visitor to reflect on the importance and presence of culture of Native Americans in the United States and around the world.

The Arsenal is an industrial archeology complex, the place where, starting from the fourteenth century, the ships of the fleet of the Republic of Venice were built. The spaces were restored by the Venice Biennale and today host the international art exhibition. The entrance to the Arsenale is in Campo della Tana 2169/F and from Ponte dei Pensieri. Inside the Arsenal you will find 24 national pavilions. There is a lot of walking in the corridors of the Arsenale, we suggest you go equipped and take pauses for contemplation in front of the works that will involve you the most.

Among the Pavilions of the Arsenale, one of the most interesting is the Italian Pavilion with the Italian Historical Nucleus dedicated to Italian artists who traveled and lived abroad, often contributing to the development of local modernist narratives. The display of the famous cavaletes de vidro (glass easels) by Lina Bo Bardi, the visionary Italian architect and designer who moved to Brazil in 1946, is wonderful.

Collective and personal exhibitions, many pavilions scattered across streets and fields, in parallel with the exhibitions in the historic locations of the Giardini and the Arsenale at the 2024 Venice Biennale, there are many locations. For example, the Holy See has chosen to place its Pavilion at the Giudecca women's detention center, the title of the exhibition is With my eyes, taken from a fragment of poetry, where seeing is synonymous with touching with the gaze. The Holy See pavilion presents an unprecedented reality in Venice.

An Outside the Biennale that we highly recommend is the Cini Foundation on the island of San Giorgio Maggiore. The journey to the island will make you dream a little, then finding yourself in a place with a rarefied atmosphere, in a 16th century Benedictine abbey, away from the most massive routes. The last highly recommended Outside of Biennale is the Peggy Guggenheim Collection Museum, where in addition to the permanent collection the temporary exhibition Jean Cocteau, the juggler's revenge is on display. Over one hundred and fifty works on display, ranging from drawings to graphic works, from jewels to tapestries, from historical documents to films. The exhibition addresses the main themes that are at the center of Jean Cocteau's poetics.

Reaching the Venice Biennale 2024 is simple, if you are at the Venezia Santa Lucia train station, the best way to get to the Arsenale and Giardini venues is by vaporetto (Venice's public water transport service). The lines you will need to take that offer direct connections are Line 1, 4.1 and 5.1.

Another possibility is walking, getting around Venice on foot is not difficult and offers the opportunity for many interesting views of the city. Ultimately you could choose for a private taxi service or even a gondola. You should know, if you are at the Marco Polo airport in Venice, that there is a shuttle bus service from the airport to Venice.

Some practical advice for your visit to the Venice Biennale 2024:

• The Venice Biennale 2024 will be open from 20 April to 24 November, the closing day is Monday,
• There will be a summer timetable, until September 30th (from 11.00 am to 7.00 pm) and an autumn timetable, from October 1st to November 24th (from 10.00 am to 6.00 pm) ,
• Plan your visit in advance ,
• Buy tickets online to avoid queues ,
• Consider the Vaporetto pass, to easily move around the streets without purchasing a ticket for each ride ,
• If you also want to visit the historic buildings of Venice, consider the 2-, 3- or 5-day Venice pass which gives access to the main attractions of Venice and includes discounts and agreements with various commercial activities and you will discover how to visit Venice,
• Remember that during the weekend the Biennale is busier, if you want to treat yourself to a quiet visit consider a midweek day,
• The best time to visit the Biennale is until September, to take advantage of the extended opening hours and the events that will take place concurrently such as the cinema exhibition, the dance, theater and music festival and the historic Venice regatta.

Enjoy your visit!