Venice’s Biennale Arts Celebration

This year, the city of Venice will host the 2011 Venice Biennale, a biennial celebration of contemporary arts that brings together the best artists and works from around the globe for a series of exhibitions, performances and installations set against the backdrop of the most beautiful city in the world. This year will be the 54th season for the event and though the emphasis has always been on the visual arts, the Biennale is constantly evolving - The Venice Film Festival is part of it, and there are dance and theatre performances as well as architecture exhibitions and music.

In the past few years, the dominance of the Biennale by European artists has begun to be challenged by the inclusion of more and more artists and works from outside the continent and this year promises to be even more multi-cultural in tone, with artists from India, China and even countries such as Iceland stepping forward to bring in new viewpoints and directions.

The theme and title of this year’s event is ILLUMInations, an exploration of the concept of illumination through art. The exhibitions will begin on June 3rd, and there will be new pavilions featuring artists from India and several other countries who have not had pavilions for exhibitions in past years.

The month of June is approaching the height of the tourist season in Venice, and the odd-numbered Biennale years bring in even more people than usual. This means that reservations in Venice hotels may be difficult to obtain. If you plan on attending, it’s a good idea to begin contacting hotels in Venice now, before they fill up. Many hotels now offer reduced rates for advance bookings, so it’s not only important for making sure you’ll have a place to stay, it makes economic sense to book early as well.