exhibitions
Who is Alice?

Venice, the ethereal city of water, is a dreamland most everybody yearns to visit at least once in their lifetime. It boasts a singular architectural magnificence few other cities in the world can quite emulate: buildings look charmingly antiquated as if the city has been spared the spell of gloss and glitz modernity; the sight of the gondolas skating along the narrow canals is exotic, almost otherworldly, and one can't help but keep looking until a sweet languorous daze falls.

To art professionals, Venice is also cherished for its prestigious Biennale di Venezia, inaugurated in 1895, that holds pride of place among its kind with its longest history and most distinguished tradition. In preparation for this colossal art event - the art world's equivalent of the Olympics, one might say - each participating country's art sector wages little short of an all-out war to profess and impress upon the world of its sterling originality. Notwithstanding recurring spats over some intractable issues - retaining a distinctive position among the numerous and ever-proliferating biennales of similar magnitude and prestige; avoiding tired hackneyed themes; the perennial confusion and controversy stirred over who gets to grace the national pavilions - despite all these strains and challenges, the Venice Biennale has stoutly maintained its reputation as the authority par excellence in surveying and steering the direction of the global art scene.

The second Asian country to have a permanent national pavilion established, in 1996, Korea has been participating in both the Venice Art Biennale, in odd years, and the Venice Biennale of Architecture, in even years. This year is proving to be particularly significant for Korea in that in addition to showcasing at its national pavilion in the Giardini (the Gardens) - the official venue for the biennale - the country is also presenting a special exhibition of contemporary art at Lightbox Space as one of the biennale's designated collateral events.

The contemporary Korean art scene has been witnessing an unusually rich and abundant crop of artists: batches of brilliant budding artists emerge from the country's top-ranking art schools year after year; more-seasoned artists based in major cities throughout Europe and the United States ever progress toward the prime of their careers; then also there are the widely venerated, firmly established masters who, for all that hard-won prestige and esteem accorded them, never for a moment slacken their artistic endeavors.

The National Museum of Contemporary Art, founded in 1969, is Korea's representative art institution now with a grand Seoul branch - National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Seoul - scheduled to open in November this year. Who Is Alice? a special exhibition inspired by arguably the most beloved fantasy fable in all literary history - Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland - showcases selected works from the museum-s permanent collection of over 7,000 items both of domestic and international provenance. The show will feature 15 Korean artists whose imagination submits to no boundaries of space and time and all but seamlessly weaves the real and the surreal, the factual and the fantastical.

information
Ticket: consulta il sito della Biennale
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when
from May 31, 13 to Nov 24, 13
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where
Spazio Lightbox
Cannaregio 3831 - Strada Nuova, 30121 Venezia
Centro Storico
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