Why is it in the News?

The 60th edition of the Venice Biennale, known as “the Olympics of the art world”, will open on April 20.

What is the Venice Biennale?

• The Venice Biennale is one of the biggest and most prestigious art fairs in the world.
  • Biennale is an Italian word which means ‘every other year’. Over the years, however, it has come to mean a large international exhibition that takes place every two years.
  • A biennale exhibition is different from a regular exhibition as it is organized on a large scale and involves multiple venues.
• Biennales feature contemporary art by artists from various countries that are usually linked by a common curatorial theme, providing a framework for exploring contemporary social, economic and political ideas in an international context.

India’s participation:

• India made its debut at the Biennale in 1954. Recording robust sales, the exhibition comprised over 50 paintings of masters such as M F Husain, S H Raza, Jamini Roy, Amrita Sher-Gil, and Francis Newton Souza.
• After 1954, the country officially participated in the event in 2011. The exhibition was organized by Lalit Kala Akademi and curated by Ranjit Hoskote.
  • It featured works by artists like Zarina Hashmi, Gigi Scaria, Praneet Soi, and the Desire Machine Collective.
• At the 2019 Venice Biennale, the Ministry of Culture, Confederation of Indian Industry, National Gallery of Modern Art, and Kiran Nadar Museum of Art (KNMA) in collaboration organized the Indian pavilion.

Will India have a presence at the 2024 Venice Biennale?

• This year, the Biennale is helmed by its first Latin American curator — the artistic director of the São Paulo Museum of Art, Adriano Pedrosa.
  • His theme for the event is “Foreigners Everywhere”, which will delve into the experiences of those living on the margins, as outsiders, immigrants or indigenous populations.
• Works by Indian artists will also feature in this central exhibition.
  • This includes the late modernists Ram Kumar, B Prabha, SH Raza, Jamini Roy, Amrita Sher-Gil, FN Souza, and Goa-based Monika Correa.
  • Representing the contemporary will be the public art collective Aravani Art Project, led by trans and cis women.