The article “La Bienal de Venecia de Bogotá – BVB” [The Venice Biennial in Bogotá - BVB] (2008), written by Franklin Aguirre, was published in the sixth issue of the Chilean magazine Plus. This magazine was printed and published under the auspices of the “support for local publications program” of the Primera Trienal de Chile [First Chilean Triennial], a curatorial project inspired by the cultural support policies that were instituted following the celebration of the bicentenary of Chile’s independence. The article reviews in great detail the six editions of La Bienal del Barrio Venecia de Bogotá [The Biennial of the Venice Neighborhood in Bogotá]—an event that was presented regularly from 1995 to 2008—and describes the project’s founding goals, policies, and expectations. It also notes and discusses how the organizational policies were maintained or modified during the life of the event. Aguirre mentions the dissatisfaction created by the lack of social commitment and the elitism of the institutions responsible for contemporary art promotion in Colombia. These factors affected art production in Bogotá in the late 1990s and prompted artists to open new spaces on their own initiative. This is what happened with the Bienal del Barrio Venecia, which brought art exhibitions to new audiences.    

The article “La Bienal de Venecia de Bogotá – BVB” [The Venice Biennial in Bogotá - BVB] (2008) is important because it identifies local conditions and the prevailing process of economic adjustment as critical underlying factors in both the conception and the implementation of La Bienal del Barrio Venecia de Bogotá [The Biennial of the Venice Neighborhood in Bogotá], an exhibition presented in the Venecia neighborhood, a middle class business and residential area to the south of Bogotá. The event—which was designed in 1995 by Matracas [Rattles], an art group headed by Franklin Aguirre (b. 1969)—was conceived as an alternative to the excessive politicization and elitism that permeated official spaces designated for the exhibition of contemporary art in Bogotá in the 1990s. This Biennial sought to decentralize the production and exhibition of contemporary art in Colombia, and to create unified models that would encourage the integration of artists with the Venecia neighborhood community, allowing them to create art as a socio-political and cultural practice. 

The article illustrates and documents the changes that La Bienal has gone through in its fourteen-year existence. It is important to note the ironic nature of the title of this event; it mimics the Biennale di Venezia in Italy—the event where visual art from all over the world is shown and discussed—but the aim of La Bienal is to promote local qualities, community processes, and the use of public spaces. La Bienal de Venecia de Bogotá has been supported by national institutions such as the Convenio Andrés Bello (2000) and the Italian, Spanish, and United Kingdom embassies in Colombia. It has been invited to participate in a variety of venues, including the Salón Pirelli (2000) in Venezuela, the ARCO Fair (2002) in Madrid, and the Liverpool Biennial (2006) in England. Two important events have been organized as part of La Bienal in Bogotá: the first Salón Local [Local Salon] (2006) and the Picolo Aperto, respectively, provide for a curatorial exercise prior to the main event, and the exhibition of international works that are compatible with the policies of La Bienal.   

Franklin Aguirre (b. 1969) is an artist, cultural agent, and Colombian curator. He graduated from the Universidad Nacional de Colombia with a Master’s degree in Visual Arts. He is the director and founder of the Bienal Internacional de Venecia de Bogotá, for which he was awarded the Premio Nacional a Nuevas Prácticas en Artes Visuales [National Prize for New Practices in the Visual Arts] (2005) by the Colombian Ministry of Culture. He is currently, in 2010, working on his Master’s degree in Museografía y Gestión del Patrimonio [Museography and Heritage Management] at the Universidad Nacional de Colombia.