Boîte-en-Valise
A group exhibition curated out of a suitcase. Nine artists from the UK, US and Switzerland will bus, ship or fly new or specially adapted pieces to the Venice Biennale where, once unpacked, the works will seemlessly fit into their exhibition site without need for additonal supports. This flatpack-style project is curated by Mark Segal in partnership with Aspex, where all the artworks will eventually feature in a group show in Portsmouth.
6 & 7 May, 4-6pm, Palazzo Trevisan degli Ulivi Campo S. Agnese, Dorsoduro 810; 8 May, 2-4pm, Rio Terra’ San Vio Dorsoduro 453.
www.aspex.org.uk/boite-en-valise
Object Cinema
Tyneside Cinema comes to Venice with Object Cinema, a commission by Darren Banks that explores the transition of a story (Who Goes There? by John W Campbell) over time, from paper to celluloid to video to digital, as it is reimagined anew in differing formats. Banks conceives his film as a moving sculpture constructed using sequences and shots from these different media.
5-9 May, 8.45pm-12.30am, Dorsoduro 3115
www.tynesidecinema.co.uk/whats-on/art/events-exhibitions/tyneside-cinema-in-venice
Pizza Pavilion
Pizza Al Volo becomes the site of production and consumption of a series of new artworks by 19 invited artists and collaborative duos who have each designed a pizza topping as artwork. This minimal cost, unusual art-business collaboration has been originated by Konstanze Schütze, Paul Barsch, Simona Lamparelli and Matteo Ceretto Castigliano, with the rationale that ‘artists make art, curators curate, pizzerias make pizza!’ This special menu will be available for the duration of the biennale, with a Grand Opening on 7 May at 8pm.
Pizza Al Volo, Campo Santa Margherita.
www.pizzapavilion.net
PRESS ROOM
A series of alternative press briefings take place each morning during the Venice Biennale professional view. Complimentary coffee and croissants, along with the chance to receive ‘alternative press accreditation’ await those who turn up. The event may not get you access to the Biennale-proper but this collaboration between UK and Venice-based artists and curators is a meeting point for conversation and experimentation.
6, 7 & 9 May, 8.45-10am. Briefings 9-9.30am, Movie Bistro, San Marco, 3997/d.
www.pressroom.org.uk
Rob Pruitt’s Flea Market in Venice
Rob Pruitt brings his popular project to Venice for a series of artists’ stalls, vintage happenings and food festivites. This vibrant event includes a fashion show for clothing that embodies daily life and emotions, and a street food stand preparing the favoured dishes of notable individuals and fortune tellings. A book launch for The Curator as Barman accompanies the project and will see 28 artists’ recipes be performed live to music by its publishers – students from the 22nd Course in Curatorial Practices and Contemporary Arts at The School for Curatorial Studies, Venice, who have organised this edition of the Flea Market.
5-8 May, A plus A Gallery, San Marco 3073.
www.aplusa.it/rpfm/
Sun-screen
40 artists, including Alia Pathan, Fay Nicolson and Clare Charnley, create screensavers as part of Sun-screen, Candice Jacobs’ commission for the East Midlands Pavilion (EM15). Taking their theme from the wider EM15 theme, The Leisure Principle, these works play with ideas of consumerism and productivity. Share your download experience on social media to help sun-screen keep track of how each design influences mood, productivity and behaviours.
http://sun-screen.uk
Text(iles) exhibition
The Curating Practice Course at IUAV University of Venice Visual Arts consider the relationship between art and craft with a re-contextualisation of ‘the textile’, considering it as ‘a text written in different moments’ with different languages, methodologies and forms. This exhibition is a celebration of the complexity of this versatile and chameleon-like medium.
8-14 May (preview 8 May, 3pm) Magazzini Ligaue, Dorsoduro 1827, 30123.
www.iuav.it/Ateneo1/strutture-/culture-de/attivit–c/2015/Text-iles-/index.htm
The Nationless Pavilion
Through roundtables, actions and workshops, The Nationless Pavilion questions how the system of national pavilions at the Venice Biennale can take into account those who have been dispossessed and rendered stateless through crisis and conflict. The first project, Nation 25, claims that should the 51.5m displaced individuals worldwide be considered as one state, collectively they would amount to the 25th largest national population on Earth. In addition to its own events, each official National Pavilion has been invited to create a demarcated taped square as a ‘residence permit’ within their own exhibition space.
Various events, S.a.L.E. Docks, Magazzini del Sale, Dorsoduro 265, near to Punta della Dogana.
www.nation25.com
The Venetian Blinds – artist-run bands
A touring music festival dedicated entirely to bands founded by and featuring visual artists will launch during the Venice Biennale preview week, with the plan to announce further international dates soon. From 7-9 May, groups such as The Rodney Graham Band, The Cornichons and Martin Creed and His Band will take to the stage.
Teatrino di Palazzo Grassi, Campo San Samuele, 3231.
Free tickets are available only by pre-registration online.
www.thevenetianblinds.com
Venice Agendas
Venice Agendas has been hosting breakfast talks, performances and networking since 1999 when it was founded by Bill Furlong and Mel Gooding. Since 2011, Terry Smith and Claire Fitzpatrick as workinprogress have been convening these meetings and the 2015 programme, titled Crossing Boundaries, explores geographical, national and personal borders.
CZ92, Guidecca 95, 30133
www.veniceagendas.eu/Venice_Agendas/Venice_Agendas.html
The 56th Venice Biennale, 9 May – 22 November 2015; previews 6-8 May. www.labiennale.org
More on a-n.co.uk:
Venice 2015 preview: Ten… must-see national pavilions
Venice 2015 preview: Ten… must-see Collateral events
