- Saudi Arabia will contribute art to the Venice Art Exhibition 2019
- This will be the 58th annual celebration of art in Venice, taking place from May 11 – November 24
- The exhibition will revolve around a series of themes including ‘art in times of crises’
- The Venice Biennale 2019 is titled, ‘May You Live in Interesting Times’
A host of Saudi Arabian Art is currently making its way to Venice, as part of the 58th International Art Exhibition 2019.
The exhibition – which is will be held from May 11 to November 24, 2019 – will champion the themes of ‘after an illusion’ as well as, ‘art in times of crises’.
According to news announced by the Saudi Press Agency, the country’s pavilion will be supervised by the Ministry of Culture, and implemented by the Misk Art Institute, an organization under the Misk Foundation – established by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud.
Prince Badr bin Abdullah bin Farhan, Minister of Culture and Chairman of Board of Directors of Misk Art Institute, said that Saudi Arabia’s participation at the Venice exhibition is meant to promote the country’s culture and its various arts.
He went on to admit that having a pavilion at the exhibition should reflect well on Saudi Arabia’s political, historic and cultural standing among other world countries.
The Venice International Art Exhibition – or Vence Biennale – represents collective and solo exhibitions by leading and emerging international artists (as well as countries, it seems). According to curator Ralph Rugoff, the central exhibition will feature just 79 artists, all of them living.
It will be divided down the middle with two shows – one at the Central Pavilion and the other at Aresenale. Both will exhibit a variety of works, but one will focse on the ‘post-truth era’ of our times and explore how artists deal with the so-called ‘alternative fact’ and ‘fake news’ movements of our time.
The Biennale’s title May You Live in Interesting Times is said to refer to a Chinese saying that relates to periods of uncertainty, crisis and turmoil. According to Rugoff, “At a moment when the digital dissemination of fake news and ‘alternative facts’ is corroding political discourse and the trust on which it depends, it is worth pausing whenever possible to reassess our terms of reference.”
“The 58th International Art Exhibition will not have a theme per se, but will highlight a general approach to making art and a view of art’s social function as embracing both pleasure and critical thinking. Artists who think in this manner offer alternatives to the meaning of so-called facts by suggesting other ways of connecting and contextualising them.”
