The 17th International Architecture Exhibition entitled "How will we live together?", curated by Hashim Sarkis, a Lebanese architect and educator, and organised by la Biennale di Venezia, opened to the public on 22 May 2021, and can be visited until Sunday 21 November 2021. The Exhibition was scheduled to run from 23 May to 29 November 2020, but due to the global pandemic it has been postponed to this year, thus postponing the Biennale Arte to 2022. The International Exhibition includes the work of 114 participants from 46 countries, and as the title suggests, the exhibition will reflect the climate of uncertainty experienced by our contemporary world over the last two years.

17th International Architecture Exhibition - How will we live together?

The 17th International Architecture Exhibition will be open until Sunday 21 November 2021. The International Exhibition will feature 114 artists from 46 countries, most of them from Africa, Latin America and Asia, and with a large representation of women. The Exhibition is divided into five thematic areas, arranged in order of size: the individual "Among Diverse Beings", households "As New Households", communities "As Emerging Communities", the territory "Across Borders" and the planet "As One Planet". The five areas are located in the Central Pavilion and the Arsenale. There are 61 National Participations whose works will bring life to the historic Pavilions in the Giardini, the Arsenale and the various venues in the historic centre of Venice. 

The Exhibition was scheduled for 2020, but due to the pandemic that has affected the whole world, it has been postponed to this year. As stated by the president of the Venice Biennale, Roberto Cicutto, "the preparation of the 17th International Architecture Exhibition took place in a climate of uncertainty which the Curator Hashim Sarkis and the invited professionals, as well as the representatives of the National Participations, addressed with great determination, courage and sense of responsibility". The theme addressed in this edition is marked by the very title of the exhibition "How will we live together?". An open question that asks the visitor how in concrete terms, in our future, all of us, without distinction, will be able to inhabit and express life together in common spaces and through universal values. 

Art and architecture reflect the modern world in which we live, and it is therefore not surprising that the theme, conceived a few months before the start of the pandemic, is so closely related to it, as the intensification of the climate crisis, the massive displacement of populations, political instabilities around the world and growing racial, social and economic inequalities have brought us to this pandemic and have become even more relevant.

Visiting the 17th International Architecture Exhibition

We suggest that you visit the Exhibition by the most logical route, i.e. by order of scale, starting from the Arsenale, where the first three thematic areas are located: "Among Diverse Beings", "As New Households" and "As Emerging Communities". The themes addressed in these rooms concern the relationship with identity and the body, new proposals for the households of the future, focusing on sustainability, and the coexistence of different communities, addressing social and political issues. The last two halls, the largest, are set up in the Central Pavilion at the Giardini, namely "Across Borders" and "As One Planet". In these two rooms, the themes of the environment, biodiversity and our presence on the planet are addressed. Tickets and guided tours can only be purchased online.