Venice Biennale 2022 closes with more than 800,000 visitors

The 2022 edition of the Venice Art Biennale closes today, Sunday, Nov. 27, with more than 800,000 tickets sold, marking a 35 percent increase in visitors over the 197 days of opening, to which must be added the 22,498 attendance during the pre-opening.

59% of the public came from abroad and 41% from Italy, including young people and students who numbered 239,276, accounting for 30% of total visitors. Visitors organized in groups made up 14% of the total audience.

“On the occasion of the closing of The Milk of Dreams after seven months of exhibition, I would like to thank all the participating artists for contributing wonderful works of art and the passion and enthusiasm that have fueled me and the entire institution over the past two years,” commented curator Cecilia Alemani of the 59. International Art Exhibition, The Milk of Dreams, produced by the Venice Biennale. “It has been a very long journey, taking us through a pandemic, a cruel war and a collective sense of uncertainty. Organizing this exhibition under such circumstances was a great adventure, not without obstacles and complications. I conceived this exhibition remotely, with hundreds of studio visits done on zoom with artists from all over the world. Very few artists were able to come and see the exhibition spaces. No one knew if the works would arrive in Venice on time. Although things now seem to have returned to a kind of normalcy, we all know that it was an extraordinary period and that it took more than two years to get to this point. The fact that this exhibition opened on time in April has something miraculous about it. The Biennale team worked under extremely complicated conditions, and this semblance of normalcy was won through gigantic efforts, in a unique historical conjuncture that gives the international character of the Biennale a sense of necessity and responsibility that is as fundamental as ever. For this I am very grateful to President Roberto Cicutto, to my curatorial team and to the entire Biennale team who thought of solutions and solved problems with the creativity and professionalism that have made this institution legendary.”

“I want to point out, in particular, that in this edition of great public success, despite the low presence of visitors from the Asian area, and of very high attention from the Italian and international press, La Biennale strongly wanted to ensure the presence of Ukrainian artists, supporting the realization of the Ukrainian Pavilion and providing a free space at the Giardini - Ukrainian Square - for the presentation of works in any format (digitally transmitted), from artists who remained in their country and were often directly involved in the resistance to Russian aggression,” said President Cicutto.

Image: Cecilia Alemani. Photo by Andrea Avezzù

Venice Biennale 2022 closes with more than 800,000 visitors

Warning: the translation into English of the original Italian article was created using automatic tools. We undertake to review all articles, but we do not guarantee the total absence of inaccuracies in the translation due to the program. You can find the original by clicking on the ITA button. If you find any mistake,please contact us.