La Biennale Summer School 2017

La Biennale di Venezia and the Victoria and Albert Museum announce La Biennale Summer School 2017 on the occasion of the 57th International Art Exhibition and the Applied Arts Pavilion, “Display – between art and arts & crafts”, curated by the Cuban - American artist Jorge Pardo.

In 2016, La Biennale di Venezia launched the first Summer School in association with the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A). It is part of the collaborative Special Project, a co-curated Applied Arts Pavilion, and is intended to give students and professionals a deeper view of the themes explored in its annual exhibition. The 2016 Summer School was connected to the special exhibition, A World of Fragile Parts, and in cooperation with the University of Applied Arts Vienna, it focused on the past and future of copying in the field of cultural heritage.

This year’s La Biennale Summer School will consider the question of display and the applied arts. The applied arts, as a historic category, occupies an ambiguous territory in terms of display and perception. It can exist simultaneously in a museum, in a commercial shop window, and in the everyday setting of the home. As it moves through these different spaces, each with their own framing mechanisms and strategies, the objects in question take on different meanings. As such, they offer a uniquely rich object lesson in the operations and values of our different cultural institutions.

What is the ideal scenario in which to present objects that can represent high art, daily culture, or intimate personal stories?

The 2017 Summer School will investigate different strategies of display for the Applied Arts, and in so doing speculate on the Applied Arts Pavilion itself, and what an Applied Arts Pavilion for the 21st Century could be.

Participants will experience during two weeks with artists and theorists from various fields, the evolving history of curatorial and commercial display, the nuances between exhibition for fine art, applied art, and other types of objects and the alternative and new strategies for display;

Lessons, practical workshops, and behind-the-scenes visits to the 57th International Art Exhibition, the Historical Archives of La Biennale di Venezia, and other locations around Venice will be planned.

The Summer School will be closely related—in space and in spirit—to Jorge Pardo’s installation work. Pardo has continuously questioned the framing and viewing of things: from building an entire house to be lived in (4166 Sea View Lane) as an installation piece for MOCA in the 1990s; to his lobby redesign of the Dia Center in NYC in 2000; to providing sculptural armatures for the display of pre-Columbian artefacts at LACMA in 2008; to his ambitious series of buildings in Tecoh, Mexico, Pardo has created work that goes beyond the white cube, challenging where and how art can be shown. His installation in the Applied Arts Pavilion will provide a stimulating departure point for the Summer School’s debates, tours and projects.

About the Applied Arts Pavilion
The Applied Arts Pavilion is a partnership between La Biennale di Venezia and the Victoria and Albert Mu- seum, and is intended to serve as testing ground for ideas concerning art, design and architecture, and their relationship with contemporary everyday life. As such, the Summer School is intended to complement the pavilion, by digging deeper into the ideas presented in the exhibition, through lectures, excursions, debates, and workshops.

DATES
23 August - 2 September 2017

LOCATION
Arsenale, Sale d’Armi, Venice, Italy

TUTORS
Guido Beltramini, Director, Center CISA Palladio, Vicenza
Aaron Betsky, Dean, Taliesin Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture
Pippo Ciorra, Senior Curator, Maxxi Architettura
Brendan Cormier, Lead Curator, 20th and 21st Century Design Shekou, Victoria and Albert Museum
Bice Curiger, Artistic Director, Fondation Vincent van Gogh Arles
Clementine Deliss, Indipendent Curator
Anna Franceschini, Artist and Filmmaker
Catherine Ince, Senior Curator, Victoria and Albert Museum
Jorge Pardo, curator of Display – between art and arts & crafts, Special Project Applied Arts Pavilion, 57th International Art Exhibition
Bill Sherman, Director of Research and Collections, Victoria and Albert Museum

PARTICIPATION FEE
€ 2.000 (VAT. 22% included)
it includes:
- Participation in workshops, discussion, tours
- Permanent pass to the 57th International Art Exhibition
- Vaporetto pass – local public transportation
- Welcome cocktail and dinner
- Lunches
- Materials

NOTE
Accommodation is not included in the participation fee.
Some 2-bed rooms can be booked through La Biennale di Venezia offices at prices ranging from 50 to 35 euro, per night per person.
La Biennale Summer School 2017 classes will be held in English.

HOW TO APPLY
Up to 35 participants will be selected for Summer School 2017. Applications must include the following documents:
• Curriculum vitae, showing education and professional experience?
• Application letter (statement-of-purpose) not to exceed 500 words stating the reasons for applying to the La Biennale Summer School 2017
• Portfolio with recent works
All documents have to be sent digitally in PDF format to: summerschool@labiennale.org

DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS
Monday, July 24th 2017

INFO
Tel. +39 041 5218708
summerschool@labiennale.org