Posts Tagged ‘Knobby Clarke’
Venice: Biennial Contemporary Art Exhibition (3/4)
Note: The following four part Travelogue is from a tour Lynn and I made in 2009. It was first posted live to Facebook and is being reposted here along with more photographs taken during the trip.
A City of Art
It was not possible to spend nearly a week in Venice without being influenced by the art. It was our good fortune to land in the city right in the middle of the Biennale Contemporary Art Exhibition, an exhibition that has been staged almost continuously for over the past 100 years. The several hundred displays sprinkled throughout the city seemed to focus mostly on social issues around the world and one could barely travel a block without being drawn into an temporary or permanent exhibit.
While I am no critic and there is much I do not understand about contemporary art, during the viewing of hundreds of paintings, sketches, photos, sculptures, carvings, as well as music, dance, film and other avante guard art forms around the city, it was not possible to be anything but deeply moved by the many inequities and social injustices that have occurred, and continue to occur, in virtually every country of the world. The Canadian presentations – one that focused on skid-row of the downtown East Side of Vancouver and another involving the native community – brought into close focus inequities that exist in our own country.
I suppose tapping into deep emotions is the objective of contemporary art as the artists attempt to shock the viewer into gaining another perspective on our world. The feelings evoked in me were strong, even when filtered through the lens of the affluence to which many of us have become so accustomed in Canada, the United States and many of the countries through which we have traveled.
In order to insert some of our own experience of the contrasts, included are a few photos of the extreme affluence we noted in some European cities, one in particular being a three block section of Zurich referred to as the Bahnhofstrasse 84, where the ostentatious display of wealth was beyond my understanding. The story of Zurich will be posted later.
Following then, are just a few samples of the art on display in Venice and while the photos do not capture the real emotion of the scenes, they do capture a bit of the emotion we felt when living in the scene.
Links to other Venice articles:
Venice: City on Water (1/4)
Venice: Festa del Redentore (2/4)
Venice: Travel Planning (4/4)
Harold
Photos Below:
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Venice: The City of Water (1/4)
The above canal scene was taken while on the deck of one of the hundreds of ACTV Ferries that ply the city waterways.
Note: The following four-part Travelogue is from a tour Lynn and I made in 2009. It was first posted live to Facebook and is being reposted here along with more photographs taken during the trip.
Meeting New Friends
As luck would have it, our seven-hour train ride from Interlaken, Switzerland, to Venice (Venezia), the historic capital of the Venetian Republic, seemed much shorter after having 
met two delightful young ladies from Australia. These chitty, chatty young women reminded us so much of Vicki, our homestay student from the early 1990’s. As with Vicki, these two girls were experienced travelers who, having visited Venice before, provided the ‘old folks’ with several tips.
As for the best place to stay, they suggested searching out a hostel on Giudecca Island, a short ferry ride from Piazza San Marco Square, the main public square in Venice. Also, to make our touring easier, they suggested the purchase of a one, three or five-day ferry pass. The unlimited ‘on and off’ privileges would provide access to every nook and cranny of this city, unique in that access to every street and alley is provided by the canal in the same manner paved streets provide that access in every other city in the world. A second honeymoon Lynn, here we come.
Venice, “the most beautiful and romantic city built by man.”
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