At the Giardini and the Arsenale
Founded in 1895, the Venice Biennale is the oldest and one of the most important international exhibitions of contemporary art in the world. Every two years, from April or May to November, it turns Venice into a capital of art, alternating with the Architecture Biennale in the other years. The Biennale also organises the Venice Film Festival at the Lido, the oldest in the world, and festivals of dance, music and theatre.
The art exhibition is held in two main venues. The Giardini, the public gardens created by Napoleon at the eastern end of Castello, host the historic national pavilions, about thirty buildings designed by famous architects, where each country presents its artists, and the Central Pavilion. The Arsenale, the former shipyards of the Republic, where in the Middle Ages up to two thousand workers built a galley a day with an assembly-line method, hosts the main international exhibition in its vast brick halls, such as the Corderie, 300 metres long. In addition, dozens of "collateral events" and other national pavilions occupy palaces, churches and spaces throughout the city.
Tip: allow at least two days for the Giardini and the Arsenale; outside the Biennale, the Arsenale walls and gate, with their stone lions, are worth a walk.
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