This blog forms the final entry from the MA Curatorial Practice Course of IED Venice on the future of biennials. Since commencing this project, the motives for reviewing the dominant practices in biennial production have not faded. Moreover, as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to spread, the need for cultural endeavors to adapt to a rapidly changing world is even more evident today.
It would be a step forward if biennial organizers around the world could reflect on the needs for changes presented in this series. We believe that biennials should be more equitable, more context-specific, more community-oriented, greener, and more accessible from the digital space; we are eager to see to how one of the first biennials in the post-pandemic era, the next Venice Architecture Biennale, may respond to the challenges at hand. Centered around the theme “how will we live together”, this Biennale certainly has the potential to explore concrete, innovative, community-oriented, accessible and sustainable solutions to the global challenges of our times.
We hope to contribute to the conversation on cultural practices more fitted to our present through the organization of an off- and online exhibition focused on the theme of home and belonging. Entitled “With.in – Belonging is Here”, the international, multidisciplinary group exhibition explores the concepts of home, dwelling and residence, concepts that have come center-stage amidst a global pandemic. By involving the visitors in discussion on topics such as displacement, access, resource, community, safety, self and space, Metaxy Curatorial Kollectiv seeks to leave the audience with understanding and compassion about people’s diverse journeys to a safe place of belonging, a safe place to call home. Online accessible at: "www.belongingishere.com", the exhibition will be on view at SPARC* - Spazio Arte Contemporanea, located on Campo Santo Stefano, 2828a, 30124 Venezia, from 4 to 12 February 2021.