Biennale de Venise symposium explores global modernities

A symposium titled 'Where Art Worlds Meet: Multiple Modernities and the Global Salon' took place in Venice from December 9 to 12, 2005, convened by Robert Storr, former MoMA curator and future curator of the 2007 Venice Biennale. Organized at the request of Biennale president Davide Croff, the event aimed to redefine the institution amid the proliferation of biennials worldwide—110 now exist, including a dozen created in China in five years. Participants included historians, curators, critics, artists, philosophers, anthropologists, and sociologists. Key discussions centered on the shift from colonial to post-colonial contexts, the role of peripheral cultures, and the concept of a 'global salon.' Salah M. Hassan highlighted artist Ernest Mancoba, co-founder of the Cobra group and father of South African modernism, who died in 2002 without a major solo exhibition. Media theorist Boris Groys argued that mass media's aesthetic dominance forces new scenarios for contemporary art, with curators now serving as intermediaries. Artists including Daniel Buren and Antonio Muntadas contested the curator's role. The symposium was intentionally theoretical, avoiding pragmatic resolutions, as Storr sought to keep his hands free for the 2007 Biennale. He opened debates to the public, stating, 'I believe in democracy. Sometimes it works.' The proceedings were to be published online at www.talksaver.