Belgian pavilion explained

The Belgian pavilion houses Belgium's national representation during the Venice Biennale arts festivals.

Organization and building

The Belgian pavilion was the first foreign pavilion built on the Giardini. Architect Léon Sneyers designed the building for its 1907 construction in an Art Nouveau style with the influence of Josef Hoffmann and Viennese architecture. The pavilion was expanded by A. de Bosschère between 1929 and 1930 with rooms added on both sides of the main exhibition space. He also converted the flat roof from a pitch. Later, the pavilion was twice restored: in 1948 by Virgilio Vallot, who also made its façade concave with rosette motifs, and in 1997 by Georges Baines, who converted the space to a white cube gallery.

Representation by year

Art

• 1948 — Louis Buisseret, James Ensor, Constant Permeke, Louis Van Lint
• 1958 — Jules Lismonde (winner of the Renato Carrain Prize)
• 1964 — Vic Gentils
• 1972 — Pierre Alechinsky and Christian Dotremont
• 1988 — Guillaume Bijl, Narcisse Tordoir and Laurent Busine, (curator : Jan Hoet)
• 1990 — Among Others, shared exhibition I.C.W the pavilion of the Netherlands
• 1993 — Jan Vercruysse (curator : Jan Debbaut)
• 1995 — Didier Vermeiren, (curator : Jan Hoet)
• 1997 — Thierry de Cordier^[1]
• 1999 — Michel François, Ann Veronica Janssens^[2]
• 2001 — Luc Tuymans
• 2003 — Sylvie Eyberg, Valérie Mannaerts
• 2005 — Honoré d'O
• 2007 — Éric Duyckaerts, Berlinde de Bruyckere
• 2009 — Jef Geys (Curator: Dirk Snauwaert)
• 2011 — Angel Vergara, Luc Tuymans
• 2013 — Berlinde de Bruyckere (Curator: J. M. Coetzee)
• 2015 — Vincent Meessen and guests (Mathieu K. Abonnenc, Sammy Baloji, James Beckett, Melle Nieling, Elisabetta Benassi, Patrick Bernier & Olive Martin, Tamar Guimarães & Kasper Akhøj, Maryam Jafri, Adam Pendleton) (Curator: Katerina Gregos)^[3]
• 2017 — Dirk Braeckman (Curator: Eva Wittocx)
• 2019 — Jos de Gruyter & Harald Thys (Curator: Anne-Claire Schmitz)
• 2022 — Francis Alÿs (Curator: Hilde Teerlinck)^[4]

Bibliography

• Web site: Russeth . Andrew . The Venice Biennale: Everything You Could Ever Want to Know . . 2019-04-17 . en-US . 2019-04-22 . mdy-all .
• Book: Volpi, Cristiana . Re Rebaudengo . Adele . 2013 . Pavilions and Garden of Venice Biennale . Belgium . 166 . Contrasto . Rome . 978-88-6965-440-4 .

Further reading

• Web site: Belgian Pavilion at the 56th Venice Biennale . . 2015-05-04 . en . 2019-05-12 . mdy-all .
• Web site: Brown . Kate . Peer Inside the Prison of the Belgian Pavilion at the Venice Biennale and See a Disturbing World of Mannequins and Old White People . . 2019-05-07 . en-US . 2019-05-12 . mdy-all .
• Web site: Fernandez . Mariana . The Curator of Venice's Belgian Pavilion Previews the 'Uncanny' Puppets She's Putting on View . Observer . 2019-05-02 . en . 2019-05-12 . mdy-all .
• Web site: Venice Biennale, The Nationals: Belgian Pavilion . . 2013-06-19 . en-US . 2019-05-12 . mdy-all .

External links

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Notes and References

1. [Roberta Smith]
2. Carol Vogel (June 14, 1999), At the Venice Biennale, Art Is Turning Into an Interactive Sport New York Times.
3. News: 56e Biënnale. 10 May 2015. Kunst Net. 27 December 2017.
4. Alex Greenberger (June 15, 2020), Francis Alÿs, Artist with a Timely Interest in Borders, Will Represent Belgium at 2022 Venice Biennale ARTnews.