Belgian pavilion

The Belgian pavilion houses Belgium's national representation during the Venice Biennale arts festivals.

Background

The Venice Biennale is an international art biennial exhibition held in Venice, Italy. Often described as "the Olympics of the art world", participation in the Biennale is a prestigious event for contemporary artists. The festival has become a constellation of shows: a central exhibition curated by that year's artistic director, national pavilions hosted by individual nations, and independent exhibitions throughout Venice. The Biennale parent organization also hosts regular festivals in other arts: architecture, dance, film, music, and theater.^[1]

Outside of the central, international exhibition, individual nations produce their own shows, known as pavilions, as their national representation. Nations that own their pavilion buildings, such as the 30 housed on the Giardini, are responsible for their own upkeep and construction costs as well. Nations without dedicated buildings create pavilions in venues throughout the city.^[1]

Organization and building

The Belgian pavilion was the first foreign pavilion built on the Giardini. Architect Léon Sneyers designed the building for its 1907 construction in an art nouveau style with the influence of Josef Hoffmann and Viennese architecture. The pavilion was expanded by A. de Bosschère between 1929 and 1930 with rooms added on both sides of the main exhibition space. He also converted the flat roof from a pitch. Later, the pavilion was twice restored: in 1948 by Virgilio Vallot, who also made its façade concave with rosette motifs, and in 1997 by Georges Baines, who converted the space to a white cube gallery.^[2]

Representation by year

Art

1948 — Louis Buisseret, James Ensor, Constant Permeke, Louis Van Lint
1958 — Jules Lismonde (winner of the Renato Carrain Prize)
1964 — Vic Gentils
1972 — Pierre Alechinsky and Christian Dotremont
1988 — Guillaume Bijl, Narcisse Tordoir and Laurent Busine, (curator : Jan Hoet )
1990 — Among Others, shared exhibition I.C.W the pavilion of the Netherlands
1993 — Jan Vercruysse (curator : Jan Debbaut)
1995 — Didier Vermeiren, (curator : Jan Hoet )
1997 — Thierry de Cordier^[3]
1999 — Michel François, Ann Veronica Janssens^[4]
2001 — Luc Tuymans
2003 — Sylvie Eyberg, Valérie Mannaerts
2005 — Honoré d'O
2007 — Éric Duyckaerts, Berlinde de Bruyckere
2009 — Jef Geys (Curator: Dirk Snauwaert)
2011 — Angel Vergara, Luc Tuymans
2013 — Berlinde de Bruyckere (Curator: J.M. Coetzee)
2015 — Vincent Meessen and guests (Mathieu K. Abonnenc, Sammy Baloji, James Beckett, Melle Nieling, Elisabetta Benassi, Patrick Bernier & Olive Martin, Tamar Guimarães & Kasper Akhøj, Maryam Jafri, Adam Pendleton) (Curator: Katerina Gregos)^[5]
2017 — Dirk Braeckman (Curator: Eva Wittocx)
2019 — Jos de Gruyter & Harald Thys (Curator: Anne-Claire Schmitz)
2022 — Francis Alÿs (Curator: Hilde Teerlinck)^[6]

References

^ ^a ^b Russeth 2019.
^ Volpi 2013.
^ Roberta Smith (June 16, 1997), Another Venice Biennale Shuffles to Life New York Times.
^ Carol Vogel (June 14, 1999), At the Venice Biennale, Art Is Turning Into an Interactive Sport New York Times.
^ "56e Biënnale". Kunst Net. May 10, 2015. Retrieved December 27, 2017.
^ Alex Greenberger (June 15, 2020), Francis Alÿs, Artist with a Timely Interest in Borders, Will Represent Belgium at 2022 Venice Biennale ARTnews.

Bibliography

Russeth, Andrew (April 17, 2019). "The Venice Biennale: Everything You Could Ever Want to Know". ARTnews. Retrieved April 22, 2019.
Volpi, Cristiana (2013). "Belgium". In Re Rebaudengo, Adele (ed.). Pavilions and Garden of Venice Biennale. Rome: Contrasto. p. 166. ISBN 978-88-6965-440-4.