03/11 DECEMBER 2011: Biennale Internazionale dell'Arte Contemporanea

The Florence Biennale was founded in 1997 as a global convocation of artists with all their diversity. It was the right time for an idea like this. By the late 1990s, contemporary art was at a cross road. The old assumptions – that art came in waves, each named with an ‘ism’ by the end, that auction prices equal the value received, that painting was ‘dead’ and so on – those assumptions were collapsing. Suddenly it was obvious that art was alive, thriving, and as varied as humanity. Artists are everywhere. Around that time, in the old Florence, something new was stirring. A committee of Italian artists and curators proposed a biennial where talented and recognized artists could exhibit their latest work. The artists would decide the way of exhibiting their work. The risks were enormous: there had never been a show on this scale with a direct connection between artists’ studios and the exhibition walls. The evaluation of unfiltered results would be assigned to an International Jury. In 1997, with hardly any publicity, the invitations were sent. The response was impressive: 317 artists from 17 different countries.
By 2003, the 4th Florence Biennale had grown into the world’s most comprehensive exhibition of contemporary art, showing more than 800 artists from 70 different countries. This year’s 7th Biennale builds on those numbers and broadens its horizons.

Those expecting a single curatorial vision will be astonished by its polyglot multiplicity. The only curator is who visits the show. Here are 3000 paintings, sculptures, prints and installations. Make your ‘short list’ – there aren’t going to be two lists alike.
Artists at every stage of their careers, including the most eminent artists, play key roles at the Biennale. Their presence is the confirmation that the garden of art yields wondrous fruit when tilled by many hands. Past distinguished recipients of the "Lorenzo il Magnifico" Award for Career Achievement include Chen Cheng-Hsiung (2001, the first Chinese abstract expressionist painter), David Hockney (2003), Christo and Jeanne-Claude, Richard Anuskiewicz (Optical Art in the '60) and Gilbert and George in the 2007. This year Career Awards will be bestowed on Marina Abramovic, and Shu Yong.

The Biennale believes in promoting respect and tolerance among the world’s artists. In 2001, the Biennale was recognized by the United Nations as an official partner in its program, Dialogue among Civilizations. In 2005 features its collaborative association with the Triennale of India, the most important contemporary art exhibition in Asia, and in 2003 with the Turku Biennale in Finland. The interaction of art and science is an ongoing theme of the Biennale. FB03 presented exhibitions of the Vatican Museums Conservation Laboratory and historic Ferrari racing cars. Streamlined speed was again seen in this 2005 show of classic motorcycles by Harley Davidson.
The 7th Edition of Florence Biennale confirm the role of this exhibition in the world of contemporary art, with its 650 artists, 84 nations represented and more than 2500 artworks exhibited. 

 

Stay at Hotel Mario's and enjoy this important exhibition.

HOTEL MARIO'S

Via Faenza, 89

50123 Firenze

Tel. 0039 055 216 801

Fax 0039 055 212 039

E-mail: hotelmarios@hotelmarios.com

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ART 75° Mostra Mercato Internazionale dell’Artigianato: Fortezza da Basso, Firenze, dal 30 Aprile all' 8 Maggio - ART International Arts and Crafts exhibition: Fortezza da Basso, Florenze, from Friday, April 30 to Sunday, May 8, 2011

Dal 30 Aprile all' 8 Maggio 2011 nei suggestivi spazi espositivi della Fortezza da Basso torna l’appuntamento con ART - Mostra Mercato Internazionale dell’Artigianato, giunta alla 75^ edizione.
Nove giorni interi per valorizzare e commercializzare le culture innovative e le produzioni tradizionali a cui si legano i diversi comparti artigiani nell’ottica di un proficuo incontro e scambio fra il made in Italy (con la sua innata creatività e originalità) e la multiculturalità. A Firenze, capitale per antonomasia, dell’arte e della raffinata e secolare esperienza del ‘fatto a mano’.
La mostra sarà aperta al pubblico con il seguente orario: tutti i giorni dalle ore 10,00 alle ore 23,00 (ultimo giorno: chiusura alle ore 20,00).
Una serie di iniziative collaterali, workshop e convegni, promossi ed organizzati in collaborazione con Artex e le principali associazioni di categoria, con la partecipazione di opinion leader e personalità di spicco del comparto artigiano, affiancheranno la kermesse commerciale con il fine di rafforzare il ruolo di ART quale osservatorio annuale permanente di riferimento per il mondo dell’artigianato e test di mercato unico per il prodotto esposto. 

Identico il format delle edizione passate che prevede la suddivisione in sei grandi aree tematiche: TERRITORI - SCENE D’INTERNI - IL GUSTO - SCENARI DAL MONDO - SCENARI DI MODA & PREZIOSI - VISIONI, nelle quali gli espositori potranno presentarsi sulla base delle specifiche caratteristiche merceologiche dei loro prodotti a coprire l’intero mondo artigiano, colto nel suo costante cambiamento ed innovazione.
Un’occasione da non perdere dunque come punto di incontro fra produttori e consumatori: artigiani, piccole e medie aziende, interior designer, arredatori, architetti, titolari di negozi e gallerie specializzate. Questo e altro ancora è ART, lo storico salone internazionale dell’artigianato di Firenze, che da sempre premia la creatività, l’estro e l’abilità manuale di tanti maestri artigiani, suscitando intorno, sempre e comunque, nuove emozioni e desiderio di bellezza.

Art breasts the tape of 75 years of history, a period in which it has been able to develop and to keep pace with change, thus becoming one of the most prestigious shop-window of high quality artistic handicraft, both on a national and international level. Creating is an art. It is not by chance that ART, the International Handicraft Fair, was born and developed in Florence, and it is now housed
at the Fortezza da Basso, in the appealing exhibition areas of FirenzeFiera.
A top level location where to show and enjoy the creativeness and art of artisans from all over the world, who meet Florence’s and Tuscany’s history and tradition.
Artistic handicraft is an important richness of our culture and economy, one of the sectors which made the ingeniousness of “Made in Italy” products known and well-regarded all over the world.
ART 2011 is a unique meeting place for people who love that which is beautiful, for those who regard creativeness as valuable. A shop-window of innovating ideas and projects for professionals working in this field, and for consumers, whose tastes and needs are continuously changing.

The 75th Fair will be characterised by a very peculiar flavour: a look to the past, but mainly to the future, aiming at new shapes, new materials, new colours, taking into account, at the same time, the traditional refinement and taste that are peculiar to products which are never out-of-date.
ART 2011, the International Handicraft Fair, is not only a trade show, with over 700 exhibitors; it is a cultural event as well, which crosses Florence’s and Tuscany’s history.
And it is also the quality of exhibitors, the quality of side exhibitions, meetings and workshops: an irrevocable choice, that is well-regarded by artisans and visitors, both end-consumers and professionals such as architects, interior designers, shop owners and specialised galleries.

HOTEL MARIO'S Via Faenza, 89 50123 Firenze Tel. 0039 055 216801 Fax. 0039 055 212039 www.hotelmarios.com info@hotelmarios.com