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By Sarah Waller
Photo courtesy of the author
A man wearing a gas mask stood proudly in front of the bright, red transport box. The trash spilled from its realistic doors, seemingly overflowing into the exhibit. The amount shocked the viewer and drew each person closer. The artist would walk over and hand out a pamphlet. His pants matched the work perfectly. His shirt read “no to imported trash.” The gas mask hid the smile. His moving, political piece was here: the Florence Biennale, which recently concluded on October 25, an exhibit built for dialogue about today.
The Florence Biennale comes to Florence every two years to showcase hundreds of current international artists who explore current events through various forms of media. Unlike the Venice Biennale, the Florence Biennale does not divide the masterpieces by the country of the artists. A dialogue is created with the language of art by placing works by like themes and media. The exhibit located in the Fortezza da Basso doesn’t transport you to different regions of the world; it compels you to see the world as a whole - one community speaking about the joys and the pitfalls of society.
“It’s very important for us to have artists from different countries and different points of arrival for the artists,” Jacopo Celona, general director, explained. “In this occasion the Fortezza da Basso becomes a small city of artists in Florence for which they all have the common language of art.”
This small city of artists worked closely with two students from the Florence University of the Arts. FUA unites diverse communities and encourages students to explore other cultures and ideas while the Florence Biennale connects cultures from around the world and also encourages communities to experience the world as a community. The two FUA interns proudly represent all ideals during their experience.
Gabriella Andino, one of the interns, cannot believe she was able to intern for the Florence Biennale. She helped organize and contact the artists. “I got professional insight into how a huge international event like this is planned and the steps to go through, ” Andino proclaimed.
Although her professional development is invaluable, the Biennale has given her more than mere lines on a resume. The Florence Biennale and FUA gave her the opportunity to experience this tradition. “Seeing all these emails flow in from everywhere around the world has been so interesting realizing where all these people are coming from.” Andino said. “ The behind the scenes of how something so massive is brought to be by such a few amount of people has been the most interesting thing to see unfold.”
Thanks to the dedication of the Florence Biennale organization and FUA interns artists like Joe Datuin can speak about the transportation of trash to the Philippines.