Venice, vidi, vici
The question of how to make art accessible to all continues to press on the minds of curators, gallerists and museum directors. As the arts become increasingly unmoored from fixed physical locations, why should the act of viewing art in galleries or at festivals be restricted to those who are able to attend exhibitions in person?
The Venice Biennale may be the world’s most prestigious cultural festival, but most people cannot easily make it to the city. This is where Bloomberg Philanthropies, through its free arts and culture app Bloomberg Connects, steps in to help bridge the gap between Venice and the rest of the world. Bloomberg Connects, which was launched in , allows people who are unable to attend museums and cultural institutions in person to get a detailed look at hundreds of permanent and temporary collections. But it’s not just remote visitors who benefit: audio guides and snippets on the app give in-person attendees a more holistic view of the exhibits on display, providing context and additional insights.
Having partnered with hundreds of museums and cultural organisations internationally, including many of the world’s leading art institutions as well as lesser known gems, Bloomberg Connects is well placed to work with the Venice Biennale. It did so for the first time at the last edition, in , where users of the app could view and learn about work by many artists including Simone Leigh, Sonia Boyce and Ali Cherri and pay virtual visits to some of the Biennale’s most iconic spots – the Giardini and the Arsenale. For anyone curious, Bloomberg Connects’ guide to the Venice Biennale Arte is still available on the app.
The Biennale Arte takes its title as its overriding theme; this year, the title of the general exhibition is ‘Stranieri Ovunque – Foreigners Everywhere’. This seems like a neatly ironic theme for Bloomberg Connects, whose principal aim is to make strange objects seem less foreign, more approachable. The app will feature audio commentary for about works at the Biennale; users will be able to explore, in more than languages, the art that adorns the pavilions of around countries. For anyone attending Venice in person, an interactive map provides access to information about bookshops, cafes and public programmes taking place in the city. It’s a truism that the world seems smaller every day, but Bloomberg Connects aims to fit Venice into the palm of its users’ hands – and judging by the scope of the app’s digital offering, the Biennale has never been more accessible.