After the coup d’état of 11 September 1973, Carlo Ripa di Meana – newly elected President of the Venice Biennale – decided to dedicate the entire 1974 edition of the Biennale to Chile. Hortensia Allende, widow of Chilean President Salvador Allende, travelled to Venice to inaugurate the Biennale, entitled ‘Freedom to Chile: for a democratic and anti-fascist culture’.
The 1974 Biennale became a device of multidisciplinary experiences, scattered in the historical centre and in the industrial outskirts of Venice, turning into a huge space for active confrontation and exchange between different generations of artists, students, cultural and political actors.
On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the 1974 edition of the Biennale, the Italian Cultural Institute (IIC) in Santiago, in collaboration with local institutions and cultural operators, is organising a series of events aimed at commemorating said milestone and reflecting on the role of art in the socio-political context of yesterday and today.
Two core activities will be organised: on the one hand, the presentation of the exhibition project ‘Quimeras. La Bienal del 74 como laboratorio social del presente’ (Chimeras. The 1974 Biennale as a social laboratory of the present) by artists Patrick Hamilton and Eugenio Tibaldi, who propose a critical reflection on the legacy of the 1974 Biennale, which became a laboratory of social experimentation scattered throughout the Venetian streets. The exhibition project, organised in collaboration with the MAC Parque Forestal Museum for 2025, will be presented by curator Eugenio Viola and artists Tibaldi and Hamilton on 3 October at the museum in a conference open to the public.
On the other hand, the course Historia de la ‘Biennale Arte Venezia’ del 1895 hasta hoy (History of the Venice Art Biennale from 1895 to today), curated by researcher, curator and art critic Mariagrazia Muscatello, and held between 30 September and 10 October. The course aims to delve into the history of the Venice Art Biennale, especially in the last session of 10 October which takes place in the auditorium of the IIC in Santiago, and focuses on the 1974 edition of the Biennale. Original archive footage – provided by Rai Teche – of the inauguration, which was also attended by President Allende’s widow, will be screened.
