Towards an Urban Biennale

Rithinking the Biennale and its relationship with the city of Venice and the lagoon, starting from the abandoned spaces and the contextual, processual and relational practices in art and architecture. An academic week that wants to open up the discussion on the Biennale 2016, as a possible Urban Biennale, using Lucius Burckhardt expression for Documenta. An Urban Biennale that becomes part of the process of reuse and reinvention of the enormous amount of abandoned spaces in the lagoon of Venice.
The workshop will start with a two days Stalker’s exploration of the abandoned spaces walking all through the Lido island, including possibly the close abandoned islands of Lazzaretto vecchio and Poveglia. The Lido, “leasureland” of the venetian archipelago, site of the Biennale Cinema Festival, is disseminated by abandoned buildings and sites that have to be re imagined.

Five one day seminars with round tables will follow the Lido exploration. In those seminars will focus the possibility to rithink the Biennale istitution by discussing the following problematics:

Its organization in national pavillions.
Its organization in disciplinary art fields (visual arts, architecture, dance, theatre, cinema).
Its relationship with the urban space and the reuse of the enormous amount of abandoned spaces in the lagoon of Venice.
Its relationship with education and the great amount of national and international educational paths that take place in Venice.
Its relationship with citizens organizations and innovative social practices and the praticability of living in Venice.