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A JOINT EVENT WITH THE VENICE IN PERIL TRUST
Description:
There are few places in the world where art and national identity are as intertwined as at the Venice Biennale. It remains unique, not only because it is the oldest international art exhibition and takes place in such an extraordinary setting, but because its collection of national pavilions encourages pluralism, diversity, and the surprising. Set within the beautiful Giardini, the pavilions proclaim their origins with an exaggerated air of national stereotyping. Andrea Rose shows how these distinctive buildings have lent piquancy and purpose to the art shown in them, from Mondrian in the limpid Dutch Pavilion (designed by Rietveld in 1953) to Hans Haake in the German Pavilion (built in 1938 by Ernst Haiger, one of Hitler’s favourite architects) where the artist exhibited his critique of national history by smashing up the floor. The Biennale has seen huge changes from its first edition in 1895. From its beginnings as an association of western nations to its position as a global phenomenon today, this talk looks at how the Biennale has evolved, its relationship to the city, and its importance in an increasingly polarized world.
Andrea Rose was Director of Visual Arts and Strategic Programmes at the British Council From 1994-2014 . During this period she was responsible for Britain’s representation at Venice Biennale, commissioning and curating exhibitions by Leon Kossoff, Rachel Whiteread, Gary Hume, Chris Ofili, Tracey Emin, Gilbert & George, Steve McQueen, Mark Wallinger, Jeremy Deller and Sarah Lucas among others. She is currently on the Board of Directors of the Burlington Magazine, a Trustee of Pallant House Gallery and Deputy Chair of Koestler Arts. Andrea has written widely on British art and most recently a Catalogue Raisonné of Leon Kossoff (Sept 2021, Modern Art Press).A JOINT
A glass of prosecco will follow the talk
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DISCLAIMER: By participating in a BIS webinar or live event you automatically agree to authorise recording of audio and visual content during the event and consent to subsequent use of the recording in the public domain. This recording may include questions, comments and poll responses provided by you during the event in addition to your name, voice, image or likeness. This recording will be made available after the conclusion of the live event as part of the BIS webinar archives, and will remain available indefinitely. If you do not wish to consent to the recording, please do not join the event or contact us to discuss your concerns.
Bookings for this event will open at a later date.
Women in the Byzantine Empire are seldom addressed in relation to art, yet manuscripts, paintings, jewels, architecture and fashion are imbued with their agency. This lecture presents an art-historical survey reinstating women into the history of the late Middle Ages across the Adriatic and the eastern Mediterranean.
Dr Andrea Mattiello holds a PhD from the Centre for Byzantine, Ottoman and Modern Greek Studies University of Birmingham, and another PhD from the School for Advanced Studies in Venice. He has published and lectured on Medieval, Modern and Contemporary Art and Architecture, queer art in Antiquity, female agency in Byzantium and Greek-Italian exchanges in fifteenth-century Humanism. He has held a number of prestigious research fellowships and has lectured at Università IUAV of Venice, the University of Birmingham, Università di Salerno and Christie’s Education London. He co-edited the volume Late Byzantium Reconsidered and is currently working on a monograph on the queens at the late Palaiologan Byzantine court in Mystras.
A drinks reception will follow the talk
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DISCLAIMER: By participating in a BIS webinar or live event you automatically agree to authorise recording of audio and visual content during the event and consent to subsequent use of the recording in the public domain. This recording may include questions, comments and poll responses provided by you during the event in addition to your name, voice, image or likeness. This recording will be made available after the conclusion of the live event as part of the BIS webinar archives, and will remain available indefinitely. If you do not wish to consent to the recording, please do not join the event or contact us to discuss your concerns.
A drinks reception will follow the talk
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Photo Credit: NASA
DISCLAIMER: By participating in a BIS webinar or live event you automatically agree to authorise recording of audio and visual content during the event and consent to subsequent use of the recording in the public domain. This recording may include questions, comments and poll responses provided by you during the event in addition to your name, voice, image or likeness. This recording will be made available after the conclusion of the live event as part of the BIS webinar archives, and will remain available indefinitely. If you do not wish to consent to the recording, please do not join the event or contact us to discuss your concerns.
Founded in 734 BCE by the Corinthian Greeks, capital of the Byzantine Empire in 663CE, today a popular film location (the latest Indiana Jones), subject to the mass tourism of morde e fugge, I first discovered Syracuse through Shakespeare’s Comedy of Errors and a Rogers and Hart musical. 52 years on I know better. There will be tales of monuments, myths, and miracles but also of Plato, St Paul, Nelson and Churchill, the eccentricities of the old Bourbon aristocracy, a WWII secret, and stories of village life with its rivalries and passions: where a murder in Avola caused a change to Italian law. There is also modern Syracuse, a microcosm of Southern Italian life with all its challenges. Above all, this is la mia Siracusa and, in a way, the story of six “theatres”.
Susan Kikoler was born in London of Russian/Polish ancestry and fell in love with Italy visiting Florence as a teenager. After studying English Language and Literature at St Hugh’s College, Oxford, she taught English for five years in Syracuse, Sicily, before moving to Canada and finally the UK. Her portfolio career has been based on her interest in and knowledge of Italy whether as lecturer, (Canada, Brazil, Italy and the UK), writer, interpreter, or consultant. Since 2004 she has been the Honorary Director of the British-Italian Society and was awarded the title of Commendatore dell’Ordine della Stella D’Italia in 2005 for promoting Italian culture. Her other great passion is theatre. She was a Drama Assessor for the London Arts Board and has served three times on the panel of the Laurence Olivier Theatre Awards.
Her latest lecture The History of the Jews of Lombardy: Mantua, Milan and Mantegna is available on YouTube.
A drinks reception will follow the talk
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DISCLAIMER: By participating in a BIS webinar or live event you automatically agree to authorise recording of audio and visual content during the event and consent to subsequent use of the recording in the public domain. This recording may include questions, comments and poll responses provided by you during the event in addition to your name, voice, image or likeness. This recording will be made available after the conclusion of the live event as part of the BIS webinar archives, and will remain available indefinitely. If you do not wish to consent to the recording, please do not join the event or contact us to discuss your concerns.
MEMBERS ONLY. SOLD OUT.
On the occasion of Art in Mayfair, the Italian Ambassador in the UK, Inigo Lambertini, has the pleasure of inviting BIS members to a unique experience: visiting the Embassy’s premises and getting to know its art collection, in an exclusive tour lead by Dr Jennifer Sliwka, King’s College London.
Since it was founded in 1941, the British-Italian Society has worked to promote knowledge and understanding in the UK of Italian culture, including Italy’s history, institutions, way of life, language and wider contribution to civilisation.
The British-Italian Society
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