Florence Biennale

The Florence Biennale is an international self-financed exhibition and event, in the style sometimes known as a "vanity" exhibition.^[1] Since 1997 it has been held every two years in the exhibition spaces of the Fortezza da Basso, Florence. Run by the Arte Studio organisation, the Florence Biennale is patronised by the President of the Republicand Ministry of Cultural Heritage of Italy as well as the Regional, Provincialand Municipal authorities of the city of Florence. Since 2013 it is also patronised by the Florence Unesco Centre onlus.

The first Art Director of the Florence Biennale to be appointed, in 1997, was the art historian Stefano Francolini. From 1998 to 2005 the Art Director in charge was the art historian and critic John Spike. In 2007 Emanuel von Lauestein Massarani, Secretary of Culture and Superintendent of Cultural Heritage in São Paulo (Brazil), took over. In 2009 and 2011 Stefano Francolini was called up again. In 2013 the Florentine art historian and critic Rolando Bellini was appointed and is currently in charge.

Structure of the Event

The Florence Biennale is one of few international art events structured as a self-financed independent platform for contemporary art.^[1] It therefore represents an exhibition system in which participation is based on an individual artist paying to participate, rather than the system of gallery representation common to many other, notable Biennial events. Participation is not constrained by medium or topic of research. The main venue of this one-week exhibition is the Fortezza da Basso, whose exhibition spaces are set up and equipped according to the artist's needs. Starting from the 2013 edition, however, the Florence Biennale program envisages a series of collateral events taking place in different specific sites of the Florentine Renaissance heritage, including the State Archives and the Riccardiana Library.

Participants are selected by the International Selection Committee composed by historians, critics and curators from around the world. The selection process starts more than a year before the event. There is a participation fee that artists are required to pay to cover the expenses for the exhibition space, catalogue, and advertising. In order to comply with the principles of transparency and equal opportunities, the amount of the participation fee is expressly stated by the Florence Biennale. The criteria based on which it is determined, which means number of works displayed and age of the exhibiting artist, is also stated clearly in their prospects. The majority of the artists cover the cost of the participation fee as well as the travel and accommodation expenses with their own funds or with sponsorships. A restricted number of guest artists are invited to participate free of charge. Early-career artists have the opportunity to meet them, and also to attend workshops and seminars offered to young talents and students of the Art Institutes and Art Academies. As is common at some galleries, museums, and art events, the audience pays to view the exhibition.

Concerns about the event

There are many concerns within the art community and artist discussion groups about the Biennale, as they have been known to contact artists they have no prior connection to, inviting them to participate if they can either find a sponsor or pay substantial participation fees. Former participants sometimes seem comfortable and happy with this pay-to-exhibit format. However, unsolicited email invitations to artists have sparked further concern as the email invitations are often misleading, imply a great honour, and seem to be widely delivered with little specificity in who receives them. ^[2][3][4]

A former member of the exhibition's selection committee has spoken out regarding the feedback he heard from artists he had invited, and the structure and costs of the Bienniale.^[5]

If you do receive and invitation to this event, it is important to understand that it functions in a system very similar to a Vanity Gallery, where the exhibition makes the greater part of its profits directly from charging artists.

The 'Lorenzo il Magnifico' Award

In each edition, the International Jury of the “Lorenzoil Magnifico” Lifetime Achievement Award assigns this tribute to individuals and organisations for distinguished merits in Art, Design, and Culture. Illustrious personalities received this award. Past recipients of the 'Lorenzo il Magnifico' for Art include Dolores Puthod, José LuisCuevas, Agatha Ruiz de la Prada, Marina Abramović, Sudip Roy,^[6] Shu Yong, Gilbert and George, Christo and Jeanne-Claude, Richard Anuskiewicz, Robert Chen, Alfredo Zalce, and David Hockney. The 'Lorenzo il Magifico' Award for Design was tributed to Ferrari, Pininfarina and Harley Davidson. Past recipients of the 'Lorenzo il Magnifico' Award for Culture include Carla Fracci, Ferruccio Soleri, Mario Luzi, Anne Archer - Artists for Human Rights. In 2013 the award ceremony will be held in the Salone dei Cinquecento at Palazzo Vecchio, Florence

Reviews and details from participants

Casagrande & Rintala's Installation 1:2001 in Piazza Della Republica during the Florence Biennale 2001.

The Florence Biennale has a relatively short history. The steering committee, therefore, had to take decisions, make choices, and face the difficulties that inevitably challenge the smooth delivery of a newly conceived project of any kind. All this may explain why, especially as far as the early editions were concerned, some solutions and ideas have been criticised.^[7] The Florence Biennale, however, received praise for having engaged numerous artists from all around the world in a multi-faceted initiative, which filled a gap in the contemporary art life of Florence. It may also be noted that the Florence Biennale has achieved pleasing results for the curators, the audience, and the artists. Participants reported that a temporary, but far-reaching international community of artists gathers in Florence for the biennial.^[8] Terrance Allen, an indigenous Australian artist from the Walhallow community in Kamilaroi, Caroona (New South Wales) who displayed his work at the 2005 Florence Biennale, affirmed that 'Having the opportunity to share Aboriginal art, culture and history is a privilege that I consider my duty'.^[9] In recent years the Florence Biennale was judged positiely also by the critics, especially for the decisions taken in tributing the 'Lorenzo il Magnifico' Award.^[10] In the case of Shu Yong and Marina Abramovich the choices made were far-seeing in that both artists would have later been invited to present their works at the Venice Biennale.

The New Florence Biennale IX edition had 370 artists represented from almost 50 countries. The Jury was virtually the same as the previous two editions 2009, and 2011. There was a considerable drop in interest and this was noted in the lower entries. From 2009 with nearly 750 entries to 2011 with just under 500 and the last edition with about 370 artists. The reason for the drop could be linked with the global economic recession but also from the increased 'inside' information coming from artists who have already participated, and also on blogs and sites that share this information for future candidates to the Florence Biennale.

The Celona brothers run the Florence Biennale since the 1st edition in 1997, said to be a Contemporary Art Biennale, it is in reality an invitation to all amateur and professional artists via a payment to exhibit their works at the Fortezza di Basso, in the underground space, and not the ground floor exposition hall.

References

External links

• Florence Biennale official page
• Florence Biennale, un'invasione di arte contemporanea in città / FOTO