VENICE BIENNALE guided visits 2013

If you’re interested in booking a private visit – including visits to all of the major national pavilions, off-site pavilions, and some of the artistic treasures of the city –  please contact me to arrange.

The trip itinerary is:

Meet at the Giardini (Venice’s public gardens) for a guided tour of the national pavilions, including Great Britain, France, Austria, Spain, the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Finland, Lebanon, Belgium, Canada and many more. Each country selects one or more artist to represent them; each pavilion is a purpose-built permanent structure, many by celebrated architects from the late nineteeth century to the late twentieth. We will also visit pavilions that are new to the Biennale, including Kosovo, Nigeria, Paraguay, Bahrain and Kuwait, with more still to be announced. (There will also, of course, be the odd coffee break).

Meet back at the Giardini for a guided visit to the huge curated exhibition in the Arsenale, the medieval ship-building warehouses. The exhibition, curated by Massimiliano Gioni (of the New Museum, New York), is entitled ‘Encyclopaedic Palace’ and will feature a huge range of international contemporary art in a beautiful and fascinating setting. We end with a drink overlooking the lagoon.

Meet at the Accademia Bridge for a short walk over to the Peggy Guggenheim Collection, one of the world’s most important collections of twentieth-century art. The collection includes masterpieces by Picasso, Duchamp, Calder, Ernst, Magritte, Miro, Dali, Giacometti, Brancusi, Pollock, Bacon and Gorky.

Venetian Renaissance painting: a ramble. We’ll go even further back in time, getting a close look at some of the city’s greatest artistic treasures, from Titian and Bellini in the church of the Frari, to Tintoretto in the Scuola Grande di San Rocco, “Venice’s Sistine Chapel”, and, via a restorative afternoon spritz, the church of San Sebastiano, whose interior is covered with stunning Renaissance painting.

Offsite pavilions: these are all yet to be announced but will involve visits to smaller exhibitions and installations all over the city, and perhaps by boat to some nearby islands. Watch this space for further details.

A guided visit of exhibitions of contemporary art taking place in Venetian palaces to coincide with the Biennale, including the Punta della Dogana (in the glorious former customs house at the mouth of the Grand Canal), Palazzo Grassi and the Fondazione Prada (both of the former housed in splendid palaces). We end the trip with a drink overlooking the Grand Canal.

These trips are designed for independent travellers. That means that you will book your own flights and accommodation, although I’m happy to recommend places. You will also have to purchase your own entry ticket to the Biennale, which you can do online or in person in Venice.

Each three day visit will cost £270 and the group size will be a maximum of 15. Please contact me to secure your place.