Biennale Arte 2024: Western Perspective Persists Despite Global Ambitions

The 2024 Venice Biennale, curated by Adriano Pedrosa, aims to celebrate foreignness and global art but struggles to shed its Western-centric viewpoint, according to critic Alessandra Mammì. While the Giardini exhibition offers a structured, accessible experience with thematic rooms—including abstraction, queer painting, and political video—the Arsenale devolves into a confusing geographical pastiche. Mammì praises specific works: Paulo Delano's 'Museum of the Old Colony' documenting Puerto Rico's colonial history, Giulia Andreani's feminist paintings in Payne's gray, and Claudia Andujar's metaphysical photos alongside Yanomami drawings. She also highlights Marco Scotini's 'Archive of Disobedience' video atlas and Bouchra Khalili's multi-screen migrant installation. However, she criticizes the lack of curatorial tools to distinguish between indigenous and folk art from different regions, such as Aboriginal, Guatemalan, and African textiles. The Golden Lions awarded to Anna Maria Maiolino, Karimah Ashadu (Silver Lion for a video on Lagos mototaxis), Mataaho Collective, and Archie Moore (conceptual installation of ancestral names) reflect a preference for sophisticated, conceptual works over craft. Mammì argues the Biennale fails to provide a new paradigm, leaving viewers with passive acceptance or mere aesthetic judgment.