Venice – The President of la Biennale di Venezia, Paolo Baratta, accompanied by the Director of the 55th International Art Exhibition, Massimiliano Gioni, met on October, 25th 2012 the representatives of the participating Countries. The Countries participating for the first time are 8: Bahamas, Kingdom of Bahrain, Republic of Kosovo, Kuwait, Maldives, Côte d’Ivoire, Nigeria and Paraguay. The vice-President of the promoting committee for the Holy See’s pavilion at the Biennale Arte 2013 was also present on the occasion.

The 55th International Art Exhibition will take place in Venice from June, 1st to November, 24th 2013 at the Giardini and at the Arsenale (preview: May 29th, 30th and 31st 2013), as well as in various venues the city.

The title chosen by Massimiliano Gioni for the 55th International Art Exhibition is:
Il Palazzo Enciclopedico / The Encyclopedic Palace

Massimiliano Gioni introduced the choice of theme evoking the artist self-taught Italian- American Marino Auriti that “on November 16, 1955 filed a design with the US Patent office
depicting his Palazzo Enciclopedico (The Encyclopedic Palace), an imaginary museum that was meant to house all worldly knowledge, bringing together the greatest discoveries of the human race, from the wheel to the satellite. Auriti’s plan was never carried out, of course, but the dream of universal, all-embracing knowledge crops up throughout history, as one that eccentrics like Auriti share with many other artists, writers, scientists, and prophets who have tried – often in vain – to fashion an image of the world that will capture its infinite variety and richness. These personal cosmologies, with their delusions of omniscience, shed light on the constant challenge of reconciling the self with the universe, the subjective with the collective, the specific with the general, the individual with the culture of her time.”

The exhibition will place at its heart “a reflection on the ways in which images have been used to organize knowledge and shape our experience of the world.” Inspired by what scholar Hans Belting has called “an anthropology of images”, the Biennale Arte 2013 curated by Massimiliano Gioni will attempt “an inquiry in the realms of the imaginary and the functions of imagination. What room is left for internal images – for dreams, hallucinations and visions – in an era besieged by external ones? And what is the point of creating an image of the world when the world itself has become increasingly like an image? How far does the domain of the imaginary extend, when people are still fighting in the name of images?”

The 55th International Art Exhibition of la Biennale di Venezia will present, as usual, the National Participations with their own exhibitions in the historic Pavilions of the Giardini, and in the centre of Venice. This edition will also include selected Collateral Events, proposed by international bodies and institutions, who will present their exhibitions and initiatives in Venice concurrently with the 55th Exhibition.