Event Zoom: 19 April 2021 – When La Biennale di Venezia Meets History (International Salon)

On April 19, 2021, AIMIG organized an International Salon in English, with the participation of the International Friends.

Our Co-President Alessia Panella interviewed Debora Rossi, Head of the Archive and Deputy Director General of the Venice Biennale, who guided us on a virtual tour via Zoom inside the Historical Archive of the Venice Biennale (ASAC). The archive preserves documents tracing the history of the Institution from its founding in 1895 to the present day—126 years of history—with Debora Rossi herself as its director. Far from being merely a place devoted to the study of the past, the Archive today represents a space for research and future-oriented planning for students, researchers, and scholars, as well as for anyone wishing to understand the present and envision the future.

Following the welcome remarks by Ido Bruno, Director of the Israel Museum in Jerusalem, the tour continued with the exploration of the exhibition “Le muse inquiete. La Biennale di fronte alla storia” (“Restless Muses. The Biennale Faces History”), inaugurated on August 29, 2020, at the Central Pavilion in the Giardini di Castello. Drawing extensively from the Biennale’s photographic and film archives, the tour concluded with striking images of the exhibition and its installation. For the first time, the artistic directors of the sectors of Art, Architecture, Cinema, Dance, Music, and Theatre investigated the ASAC’s holdings and collections to create the exhibition.

Images from the past still leave us unsettled by their tragic nature—such as those depicting Hitler’s arrival at the Biennale, welcomed by Mussolini, or the appearances of Goering and/or Rudolf Hess—as well as images of great artists like Giorgio De Chirico, Lucio Fontana, and Jeff Koons, and figures such as Peggy Guggenheim, alongside many other important personalities who visited the Biennale over its 126-year history. Together, they form the backbone of this unique institution, one of the foremost landmarks in the history of global culture. It was therefore an honor for AIMIG to engage with this subject and to have had the opportunity to explore it in depth.

These fragments of world history, captured in photographs, allow us to look back at the past—so as not to forget it—through the eyes of the present. For those who missed the live event, we are sharing the streaming video here. Trust us: it is well worth watching.