By Ellen C. Caldwell
For JSTOR Daily
The 56th Venice Biennale (or the Venice Biennial or Biennale di Venezia) art exhibition began on May 9th and runs through November. Entitled “All the World’s Futures” and curated by Okwui Enwezor, this year’s biennale has much promise—both artistically and politically.
Enwezor is a Nigerian scholar and curator known for putting together exhibits that are massive in scope, challenging in subject, and more relevant in complex ways than most art fairs. This endeavor is no exception. Enwezor is focusing on three intersecting filters throughout the biennale, and actively making this the most interdisciplinary biennale by incorporating visual artists, filmmakers, writers, choreographers, and musicians.
Since the late 1980s, international art fairs have been on an exponential rise. Biennials and triennials have flourished and sprouted up internationally, from Senegal to Australia, Albania to Taiwan. The Venice Biennale began in 1895 and has become a standard who’s-who (and who-will-be) of the art world. Many artists make their international careers and names here…