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After reviewing the first five editions of the Florence Biennale, we now come to the most recent ones, from 2007 to 2015. In these years, the Florence Biennale of Contemporary Art has been consolidated, with an increasingly participation of artists from all over the world and unique collateral events.

Picking up the thread where it left off, we now relive the most significant moments of the past few years.

The 2007 edition and the UN Artists For Human Rights award

It was a confirmation that the road travelled so far was the right one. An incentive to improve and continue on this path. For the Biennale, it was an honour to receive the prize from the hands of Anne Archer, especially for its symbolic meaning as an ideal representation of all artists.

Marina Abramović and the award ceremony in 2009 for her ‘Artist Manifesto

One of the most beautiful moments at the Florence Biennale. Marina Abramović has a charisma that is hard to find in other people and she manages to convey her deep sense of attachment to the ideal of art and life. When she first read her Manifesto to the audience present, you could feel the energy emanating from those words. Marina gave the Biennale and its audience a unique and astonishing performance.

2011, the year of Sit-In Florence

Together with Professor Cianfanelli of the Florence Design Campus, this unique project was initiated. A project supported by IKEA Florence, which gave 500 chairs to as many students.
The students from high schools and universities created works between art and design that symbolised the best of Made in Italy. The aim was to convey the idea of a slower lifestyle.
During the Florence Biennale, the young people ‘paraded’ through the streets of the city with their chairs. They stopped in squares to sit and reflect or converse and rediscover the slow thinking of past generations.

Anish Kapoor and his award ceremony in the 2013 edition

The meeting with Anish Kapoor represented another great moment of confrontation and dialogue.
We have always believed in the value that established artists can transmit to their "colleagues" with their own experiences, both life and artistic. This is why the "Lorenzo il Magnifico Prize" was created in 1997, allowing some of the greatest international artists to come to Florence to dialogue with the artists present at the Florence Biennale. Among the most significant experiences, in addition to the already mentioned Marina Abramović, the meeting with Christo and his wife Jeanne-Claude, Gilbert and George, David Hockney, Marta Minujin, Richard Anuszkiewicz, José Luis Cuevas, Agatha Ruiz de la Prada are to be remembered for their impact. The Ghanaian-born artist El Anatsui and the famous Japanese architect Arata Isozaki will be added to this edition.

The 2015 Florence Biennale once again committed to the themes of international terrorism

During the preparatory stages of the 10th Florence Biennale, the first news arrived of what was happening in Mosul: ISIS was carrying out an irreparable destruction of monuments and works of art. The news in 2015 foreshadowed a huge cultural catastrophe, with Italy calling for the establishment of ‘blue helmets’ for culture. It was at this time that the encounter with the young Iranian-born artist, Moreshin Allahyari, took place.

Using 3D printing as a particular solution for the constitution of a cultural heritage archive, she suggested the use of this technology as a possible documentation tool at the service of a process of historical reconstruction and thus restitution of memory. His presence meant a great deal during the last edition in 2015, in the belief that he had made an important contribution to raising awareness of this sensitive topic.

The 2017 edition, creativity and sustainability

Art has always played a fundamental role in civil society, the polis of Greek memory. In recent years, we have heard a lot about environmental sustainability and it is necessary to start addressing other areas as well, for which creativity and sustainability can play an important role.

Recently, UNESCO has started to consider a territory not only for its past and present, but above all for its future sustainable development. Monumental places are valued, but more and more consideration is given to traditions, culture, art, crafts, people and everything that makes that territory unique and therefore everyone's heritage. With this perspective, we realise that sustainability cannot be separated from the culture of a territory.

During the 11th Florence Biennale, numerous conferences and meetings will be held with the aim of turning the spotlight on this theme, which is declined in the areas of food, fashion, art, green and sustainable cities. The objective? To identify good practices for a better future.