Record turnout for the new headquarters of the Historical Archive of the Venice Biennale

The day opened with a conference by Chinese architects Wang Shu and Lu Wenyu, directors of the 2027 Architecture Biennale, who illustrated their research and the design vision of their Amateur Architecture Studio, reflecting on the relationship between architecture, memory and the transformation of places. The redeveloped spaces of the Arsenale (approximately 8,000 square meters) hosted the performances already appreciated the previous day, Monday 1 June. “Body as Archive”, a Biennale Danza project created by Wayne McGregor with Aisoma, showed how artificial intelligence can become a creative partner of the young dancers of the Biennale Danza College, generating new possibilities of movement and bodily interpretation. “Watermarks”, by Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons and Kamaal Malak, and “We Were Together, I Forget the Rest”, a performance of the Biennale Teatro curated by Willem Dafoe, were also replicated. The latter transformed documents and archive materials into a poetic reflection on memory and oblivion, with the surprise of seeing the Biennale employees participate as readers of the texts, each linked to a different artistic sector: Cesare Bisantis (Cinema), Michela Campagnolo (Dance), Giacinta Dalla Pietà (Historical Archive), Helga Greggio (Architecture), Davide Ferrante (Music), Luigi Ricciari (Visual Arts), Marta Zannoner (Theatre).

The day continued with a conversation on cinema: Alberto Barbera, director of the Mostra Internazionale d’Arte Cinematografica, spoke with five young scholars on significant aspects of the event, offering a new and dynamic perspective on contemporary cinematographic language. The grand finale of the day was the concert Yet Darkness Held No Seraphim by Caterina Barbieri, director of the Biennale Musica, designed specifically for the new spaces of the Historical Archive. Tomorrow, Wednesday 3 June, the restored spaces will be open to the public for an open day dedicated to the discovery of the new headquarters of the Historical Archive. The visits will be held from 11.00 to 19.00 (last entry at 18.30).