The theme of this biennale is “Stranieri Ovunque” – Strangers Everywhere – which could be interpreted in multiple ways. The show particularly featured the works of marginalized people
Saw lots of amazing art. Some of it, particularly the entry by Australia’s Archie Moore “Kith and Kin” must have taken months of work on site.
One standout artist (for me) is Omar Mismar, who makes Roman-style mosaics of modern topics, as shown above.
A powerful set of pieces were done by the residents of Lusanga, a village in the Congo with a long history of enslavement and exploitation by Lever Brothers (now Unilever).
Not every Italian town is famously picturesque, but, even in those that are not, the attentive observer can find a wealth of beautiful detail and decoration. (I’ve already mentioned the doorknockers.) So here’s a collection of heads on fountains from all over Italy (not necessarily dull ones).
^ These three are all in Chiavenna
^ Varenna. “Forbidden to wash and make dirty.”
^ This poor chap in Lecco has a right to feel that his dignity has been wounded!
A relic of the heyday of San Pellegrino, the Grand Hotel was (quite literally) a watering place for the wealthy, in the early 1900s when health spas with natural mineral springs were all the rage. The hotel is an Art Nouveau treasure, built in 1905, but now sadly going to ruin, its fixtures gradually being auctioned off (as shown in the sign above).
If I had a few million euros, I’d buy this poor old hulk and restore it.
