For the first time in the110-year-long history of the Venice Biennial, the artistic direction of the international exhibition is headed by two people, and for the first time ever by women. The Spaniards María de Corral and Rosa Martínez present two independent exhibitions which complement one another, with artworks spanning from the 1970s up to the present, including new works created especially for the Biennial.

Scheduled for the fall of 2005, Robert Storr (USA) conceives an international symposium on contemporary art. In 2007, Storr takes over the artistic direction of the 52nd International Art Exhibition of the Venice Biennial.

In March 2005, at press conferences held in several major cities, the president of the Biennial and the curators elaborated on the concepts and list of artists, and publicized further details. In Berlin, where we participated, we were rather surprised that María de Corral and Rosa Martínez played down the expectations for showing the new. Martínez, who presents in the arsenal the works of 49 artists, regretted not having more time for research. For the Italian pavilion, in the Giardini, María de Corral conceived a show, part retrospective, with 42 artists. She made clear from the start that her concern was not today’s much-attempted universalism; nor did she planned to incorporate as many artists as possible from so-called peripheral regions. In her opinion, the major exhibitions of recent years (such as Documenta 11) have proven that exceptional artistic achievements from Africa, Asia, and Latin America come from artists currently living in western metropolises anyway. There seems to be a problem here with point of view, but more about this appears on our pages devoted to the individual exhibitions.

Compared to the previous edition, the scope of both international exhibitions for this year’s Biennial is considerably reduced. In 2003, as many as 300 artists were represented in 10 exhibitions. While the meaning of the Biennial generates debates in the international art scene for years now, questioning in particular the national presentation, the number of countries and regions represented in Venice, with their own pavilions or exhibitions, steadily increases just the same. Included for the first time this year are Afghanistan, Albania, Morocco, Kazakhstan, Kyrgystan, Uzbekistan, and Belarus.

Like with our tours through the last two Biennials, this year’s Special also concentrates on artists whose cultural home is Africa, Asia, and Latin America, this being, after all, the focus of our project Universes in Universe - Worlds of Art.

(Pat Binder & Gerhard Haupt, Universes in Universe, 2005)

Title: Reverie and Phantasm in the Epoch of Global Trauma. Artists: Montien Boonma, Araya Rasdjarmrearnsook. Commissioner: Apinan Poshyananda. Curators: Sutee Kunavichayanont, Luckana Kunavichayanont, Panya Vijinthanasarn. Venue: Cloister of the Convent of San Francesco della Vigna.