La Biennale
Success of the three Biennale initiatives for Carnival
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02 | 13 | 2013
The three initiatives organized by La Biennale di Venezia for the 2013 Carnival were a great success:
1) The first initiative, the 4th International Kids’ Carnival of la Biennale (2-12 February), titled Il Leon Musico (The Musical Lion), saw the participation of seven countries (Argentina, Bahamas, Germany, Great Britain, Maldives, Romania, and the United States) and registered 18,891 entrants at the Giardini (Central Pavilion) (+3.7% from 2012), 6,656 students enrolled in the workshops at the Central Pavilion (+22.3% from 2012) coming from 149 schools in Venice, of the Veneto Region, the rest of Italy, as well as 3 from Germany and 2 from France (+23.1% from the 121 in 2012);
2) Particularly successful was our second initiative, the exhibition 20 Years of Masks and Costumes, featuring the collection of sketches from the Historical Archives of the Contemporary Arts – ASAC, which is ongoing in the Portego of Ca' Giustinian. It was offered in conjunction with a costume-making workshop (the Grand Atelier of La Biennale), to make or have costumes made from simple or common materials according to the sketches of the exhibition, with tailoring done in two venues, one at Ca' Giustinian, with 1,120 participants, and the other at the Central Pavilion at Giardini.
3) The third initiative, the organization of evenings at the Arsenale with free admission, in collaboration with Argentinian Pavilion, registered 500 participants. La Biennale will continue with this initiative on a larger scale for the 2014 Carnival, keeping it open to the public.
It was a Carnival whose nature and quality lent itself well to musical acts, with performances made in collaboration with the Music section directed by Ivan Fedele, which was very successful and elicited public participation:
· Variété by Mauricio Kagel: a concert performed by the Ensemble L’Arsenale, with the participation of the French mime Jo Bulitt
· In the land of geometric soap bubbles, a workshop led by Michele Emmer
· The ball of the beautiful bubbles, a musical happening organized by Claudio Ambrosini.
· Ouverture of the Soaps, a concert for soap bubbles by and with Michele Cafaggi.
The 4th International Kids’ Carnival is an Educational project of La Biennale di Venezia, an important initiative for connecting La Biennale with the local region, especially with the families and schools of Venice and the Veneto region.
Each day, there were proposals for: workshops for schools and ateliers for families organized by Educational Team of La Biennale; and workshops organized by the participating countries, by the “Benedetto Marcello” Conservatory of Venice, and by UNICEF. Heated venues, the Biennale Library Space, Bookshop, Cafè, nursery, and Biennale Carnival Vaporetto were all available free of charge to participating schools.
The Biennale wishes to thank the teachers, who, along with their classes, participated in the workshops and artistic ateliers; they truly entered into the spirit and scope of our endeavours and enriched them by supporting their schools' participation. We also wish to thank the families for their understanding and participation in the International Kids’ Carnival; and he managers of the café and bookshop.
