The Belgian pavilion houses Belgium's national representation during the Venice Biennale arts festivals.
Background
Organization and building
The Belgian pavilion was the first foreign pavilion built on the Giardini. Architect Léon Sneyers designed the building for its 1907 construction in an Art Nouveau style with the influence of Josef Hoffmann and Viennese architecture. The pavilion was expanded by A. de Bosschère between 1929 and 1930 with rooms added on both sides of the main exhibition space. He also converted the flat roof from a pitch. Later, the pavilion was twice restored: in 1948 by Virgilio Vallot, who also made its façade concave with rosette motifs, and in 1997 by Georges Baines, who converted the space to a white cube gallery.
Representation by year
Art
1948 — Louis Buisseret, James Ensor, Constant Permeke, Louis Van Lint 1958 — Jules Lismonde (winner of the Renato Carrain Prize) 1964 — Vic Gentils 1972 — Pierre Alechinsky and Christian Dotremont 1988 — Guillaume Bijl, Narcisse Tordoir and Laurent Busine, (curator : Jan Hoet ) 1990 — Among Others, shared exhibition I.C.W the pavilion of the Netherlands 1993 — Jan Vercruysse (curator : Jan Debbaut) 1995 — Didier Vermeiren, (curator : Jan Hoet ) 1997 — Thierry de CordierRoberta Smith (June 16, 1997), Another Venice Biennale Shuffles to Life New York Times. 1999 — Michel François, Ann Veronica JanssensCarol Vogel (June 14, 1999), At the Venice Biennale, Art Is Turning Into an Interactive Sport New York Times. 2001 — Luc Tuymans 2003 — Sylvie Eyberg, Valérie Mannaerts 2005 — Honoré d'O 2007 — Éric Duyckaerts, Berlinde de Bruyckere 2009 — Jef Geys (Curator: Dirk Snauwaert) 2011 — Angel Vergara, Luc Tuymans 2013 — Berlinde de Bruyckere (Curator: J. M. Coetzee) 2015 — Vincent Meessen and guests (Mathieu K. Abonnenc, Sammy Baloji, James Beckett, Melle Nieling, Elisabetta Benassi, Patrick Bernier & Olive Martin, Tamar Guimarães & Kasper Akhøj, Maryam Jafri, Adam Pendleton) (Curator: Katerina Gregos) 2017 — Dirk Braeckman (Curator: Eva Wittocx) 2019 — Jos de Gruyter & Harald Thys (Curator: Anne-Claire Schmitz) 2022 — Francis Alÿs (Curator: Hilde Teerlinck)Alex Greenberger (June 15, 2020), Francis Alÿs, Artist with a Timely Interest in Borders, Will Represent Belgium at 2022 Venice Biennale ARTnews.
Architecture 2004 — "Commissioner: Flemish Community". Curator: Moritz Küng. 2008 — "1907...After the party". 2010 — "Usus/usures". Curator: Rotor. 2012 — "The Ambition of the Territory". Curator: AWJGGRAUaDVVTAT. 2014 — "Intérieurs. Notes et Figures". Curators: Sébastien Martinez Barat, Bernard Dubois, Sarah Levy, Judith Wielander. 2016 — "Bravoure". Curators: Architecten De Vylder Vinck Taillieu, Doorzon interieurarchitecten, Filip Dujardin. 2018 — "Eurotopie". Curator: Traumnovelle (L. Drapeaud, M. León Fanjul, J. Leya). Co-curator: Roxane Le Grelle. 2021 — "Composite Presence". Curators: Bovenbouw Architectuur. 2023 — "In Vivo". Curators: Bento et Vinciane Despret. 2025 — "Building Biospheres". Curators: Bas Smets, Stefano Mancuso.
References
Bibliography
Further reading
External links