The Great City of Medellin: A Work of Symbiosis by Marjetica Potr. Courtesy of Fondazione Pier Luigi e Natalina Remotti

On June 7, the oldest biennale in the world, the Venice Biennale, opens for the 53rd time since its inception in 1895. One of the most prestigious cultural institutions in the world, the international art exhibition has seen more than 300,000 visitors.

This year, although seven months into the financial crisis, the biennale will probably welcome even more visitors, as more participants from around the globe are taking part in this event.

This year's exhibition, themed "Making Worlds", is directed by Daniel Birnbaum, who has said that the exhibition will not be divided into sections but instead will weave a few themes into an articulated whole.

An emphasis will be on the proximity to the processes of production, which "will result in an exhibition that remains closer to the sites of creation and education (the studio, the workshop) than the traditional museum show, which tends to highlight only the finished work itself.

"Some of the works" - declared Birnbaum - "will represent worlds in the making. A work of art is more than an object, more than a commodity. It represents a vision of the world, and if taken seriously it can be seen as a way of worldmaking."

The exhibition is further meant to show the relationship between some key artists and successive generations: "I would like to explore strings of inspiration that involve several generations and to display the roots as well as the branches that grow into a future not yet defined."

Included is an exploration of drawing and painting, with respect to recent developments and the presence in the latest editions of the biennale of many videos and installations: "The emphasis on the creative process and on things in the making will not exclude works in classical media."

As drawing and painting have been a rare presence in important art events, their inclusion as a major element in this biennale raises prospects of increased attention to these modes of expression. When asked, however, Daniel Birnbaum emphasized that "Making Worlds" just aimed to display the full scope of today's "artistic strategies", including installation art, video and film, culture, performance and painting as well as drawing.

Daniel Birnbaum's appointment as artistic director of the 53rd Venice Biennale tops a long list of experience. He is the rector of the St*delschule in Frankfurt/Main and director of the exhibition hall Portikus in the same city, also known as the curator of institutions and exhibitions at an international level. He was co-curator of the 2008 Triennial of Yokohama and curator of the 2nd Triennial of Turin.

In 2006 and 2007, he was co-curator of Airs de Paris at the Centre Pompidou, of Uncertain States of America (with Hans Ulrich Obrist) at Bard College in London's Serpentine Gallery, and of the 2nd Biennial of Moscow. In 2005, he was co-curator of the 1st Biennial of Moscow, and in 2003 he was co-curator of the international section of the 50th Venice Biennale's International Art Exhibition. Since 2001, he has been on the board of Manifesta in Amsterdam.

This year, 90 artists are taking part in this prestigious event, with 77 national pavilions presenting their countries' best. The more senior artists have their works in the Central Exhibition, which is curated by Daniel Birnbaum. These include such phenomenal artists as Joan Jonas (1936), Lygia Pape (1927), Michelangelo Pistoletto (1933) and Xu Tan (1957) but also the visionary Thomas Saraceno (1967). Nikhil Chopra (1973), Anawana Haloba (1978) and more.

Of special note are the Golden Lions for Life Time Achievement Awards that will be presented to Yoko Ono (1933) and John Baldessari (1931) on June 6 at the opening of the 53rd International Art Exhibition.

"The Golden Lions for Lifetime Achievement are honoring two artists whose ground-breaking activities have opened new poetic, conceptual and social possibilities for artists around the globe working in all media," Birnbaum said, stressing that "Yoko Ono and John Baldessari have shaped our understanding of art and its relationship to the world in which we live. Their work has revolutionized the language of art and will remain a source of inspiration for generations to come".

New presences in the biennale are Andorra, Gabon, Montenegro, Pakistan, Principality of Monaco, South Africa and United Arab Emirates. Sadly, Indonesia, which was represented in the 51st biennale but was absent last year, is again missing this time. This leaves many in the art world wondering what happened.

As a longtime participant, the China pavilion at the Arsenale will show works by a number of artists, including Zheng Fanzhi, He Jinwei, He Sen, Liu Ding and Lu Hao Giardini. Miwa Yanagi is representing Japan with a solo exhibition of photographs. "Windswept Women: The Old Girls Troupe" showcases her portraits featuring old women based on the descriptions given by young women when asked how they saw themselves in 50 years. Another female artist at Giardini is Haegue Yang, representing Korea with video works and installations, in which light is an essential element.

The first female artist to represent Korea, Haegue, who lives and works in Berlin, has exhibited widely, including in the 2001 Tirana Biennial and in Manifesta 4 in Frankfurt. "Haegue Yang is a compelling artist whose work speaks to a complex struggle for context through the stimulation of human senses and the experience of the viewer," says commissioner Eungie Joo, who is Keith Haring director and curator of education and public programs at the New Museum, New York, and is the first nonnational commissioner appointed by the Arts Council Korea for the Korean Pavilion at the Venice Biennale.

Australia's Shaun Gladwell is in the Australian Pavilion at Giardini, while Vernon Ah Kee, Ken Yonetani, Claire Healy and Sean Cordeiro are showing at Ludoteca Santa Maria Asiliatrice, Castello 450.

Meanwhile the Singapore Pavilion at Palazzo Michiel dal Brusa presents Ming Wong, an artist who successfully recreated key scenes of the Malay showbiz icon P. Ramly, in which he played 16 different characters, speaking in Malay, a language he has only a limited knowledge of.

Similarly, in his video work Angst Essen (Eat Fear) 2008, which is based on the film Angst Essen Seele Auf (Fear Eats the Soul) by Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Ming Wong moves into the guises of the various actors of a dramatic love story centering on the "otherness" and cultural prejudice.

In Venice, he shows a new work Life of Imitation based on excerpts from Douglas Sirk's 1959 Imitation of Life, a Hollywood melodrama about a pale mixed-race woman embarrassed by the darkness of her mother. His ability to play so convincingly the various characters in their own specific vulnerability makes Ming Wong an artist in a class apart.

Meanwhile, Thailand at Santa Crocce 556 comes with "Gondola al Paradiso Co Ltd", which questions the existence and the myths of capitalism through the substance of Thainess and comprises video art, photographic art, sculpture, installation by Michael Shaowanasai, Sakarin Krue-on, Sudsiri Pui-ock, Suporn Chusongdej and Wantanee Siripattananuntaku.

It seems "inclusive" is the keyword for this biennale, with the widest possible participation of artists. Tibetan Gongkar Gyatso will be here for the first time, as will be Anju Dodya from Mumbai and many more.

The Venice Biennale's "Making Worlds" will be a world in the making.

Venice Biennale

53rd International Exhibition

June 7 to November 22, 2009

Website: www.labiennale.org

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