A local resident gazing at a large-scale public art installation by artist Melissa McGill, made of nearly 50 traditional Italian sailboats on the Venice lagoons
Every other year, the international art world descends to Venice for a week-long art extravaganza fuelled by Aperol spritz, aka the Venice Biennale preview week. And this year was no exception. Last week, thousands flocked en masse, filling up the tiny streets of La Serenissima with Balenciaga triple platforms and obscene laughter, much to the confusion of local residents and unknowing tourists. While the main exhibition and most of the national pavilions are split between the Giardini and the Arsenale, a number of other exhibitions are spread across the city. This year, performance art took centre stage, with its first dedicated programme, co-organised by the Delfina Foundation, and a climate-change inspired opera set amid a fake beach, courtesy of the Lithuanian Pavilion — winner of the Golden Lion.
For SLEEK, photographer Olivia Thompson documented the week, capturing the often absurd contrast between the global art sector and the former medieval maritime power, which today faces the challenges of rising sea levels and mass tourism.
All photos by Olivia Thompson.