Giardini of Venice: Home of the Venice Art Festival
The Giardini of Venice, photograph by Xell 30.06.05: Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 2.0 Austria License
The Giardini are the
municipal gardens of Venice. They are located in the Castello district,
at the easternmost point of Venice's southern waterfront.
The French created the gardens by draining marshland after the
Napoleonic invasion of 1797.
The gardens are populated by dozens of feral cats which are protected by
law. Despite the risk of rabies, they are regularly fed by the locals.
View of the gardens from the Canale di San Marco, photo by Maria Schnitzmeier 20.07.05: GNU Free Documentation Licence, version 1.2 or later
The gardens host an
international art festival every odd year which forms part of the city's
cultural biennale. Thirty permanent pavilions are located in the
gardens.
Each of the pavilions has been allocated to a different nation on a
diplomatic basis. Consequently several nations possess a permanent
pavilion without the artistic heritage required to mount a credible
exhibition.
Many of the pavilions were designed in the thirties by distinguished
architects and their concentration within a relatively small area has
effectively transformed the gardens into an architectural museum.
At the time of their construction, the art festival was managed by the
Fascist Council. The emphasis on nationalism is reflected in the designs
of the various pavilions.
The American pavilion resembles a miniature Capitol, the German design
is typically Gothic, and the Brazilian post-modernist structure mimics
the civic buildings of Brasilia.
The Italian pavilion has obviously been inspired by the Pantheon. It is
easily the largest structure on the site and is the focal point of the
leafy approach to the gardens.
The American, Canadian and British pavilions also occupy prime
locations.
By contrast, the Australian pavilion is on a steep rise, next to a
stream beyond which the pavilions become increasingly scruffy.
The Serbian, Rumanian and Egyptian pavilions are, for example, located
next to a broken fountain and a stagnant pond.
The festival has been criticised as being too overtly nationalist. Its
critics argue that art should transcend nationality and champion
diversity.
In response to these criticisms the festival's organisers abandoned the
Grand Prix previously awarded to national exhibitions in 1968.
The festival now adopts a thematic approach based on contemporary
issues.
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