Giudecca Art District is a network of art professionals whose interest focuses on the island of Giudecca. GAD aims to create an attractive art pole far from the clamor of the mass tourism and close to a contemporary northern European industrial aesthetic.
GAD mission is to gather the professional experiences of our team and partners, giving the opportunity to our interlocutors to be present in Venice with attentively selected projects, to guarantee the high standard quality of all the events included in our network.
During the 58° Venice Biennale, the Giudecca Art District will host 8 exhibitions, multiple site-specific art interventions in public spaces and programs of talk and performance under the umbrella of the 2019 curatorial program titled “Take Care of Your Garden. Cultivating a New Humanism”.
The title of “Take Care of Your Garden” is inspired by one of the most famous quotes from Voltaire’s Candide, and focuses on what it means to be human in today’s hyper-globalized world. As in Voltaire’s novel, the garden is a metaphor for our inner life, as a source of emotions and ethical values, which have their origins in our bodies and minds, but which are subsequently projected onto other people. The invite is to cultivate a new humanism in our relationships with others, going beyond national and political borders and acknowledging our shared humanity. Are we really living in “the best of all possible worlds”, as Professor Pangloss tells Candide in Voltaire’s novel? Can art help us build a better one?
GAD will present works by established artists including Yoko Ono, Kendell Geers, Kazuko Miyamoto, Moataz Nasr, alongside young contemporary artists, in order to present high-quality projects with national and international partners.
For the official launch of the Giudecca Art District on Thursday 9thMay, there will be a series of performances, including Body as Home by the October! Collective. The launch event will be followed by two days of talks, performances, and video screenings, to propose a critical view of the current time together with Italian and international artists, curators and intellectuals.
Website: www.giudecca-art-district.com
Location: Giudecca Island, Venice
Opening: from May to December 2019
