The Photographs are a Joy to Behold

摘要

Few arts festivals have a longer or more distinguished history than Venice's Biennale. After its City Council adopted a proposal to stage a 'biennial national artistic exhibition' in April 1893, Venice staged its first International Art Exhibition of the City of Venice in 1895. Over the course of the next century, the Biennale increased drastically in scope with the addition of international festivals of music (first staged in 1930), film (1932), theatre (1934), contemporary dance (1999), and most importantly architecture - initiated as a separate biennial festival in 1980 to run in alternate years to the art exhibitions. As it grew in scope and number of exhibitors, the Biennale expanded well beyond its original location in the Giardini (parklands in the eastern tip of Venice) into rented spaces elsewhere in the city, most notably in the former Arsenale shipyard.