\n<\/p>\n
Forty-eight hours in Venice during the opening days of the 61st<\/sup> Biennale Arte and you realize pretty quickly that the city runs on two things at this time of year: Seeing the art that\u2019s on show\u2014and the aperitivo<\/em>; that golden hour when the day stops and the cocktails begin to flow, and, well, don\u2019t ever really stop.<\/p>\n That was evident at the not one, but two parties Bvlgari threw in honor of the three artists they\u2019re supporting as part of a broader partnership between the Roman jewelry house and the Biennale until 2030: Lotus L. Kang from Toronto, Lara Favaretto who\u2019s based in Turin, and Monia Ben Hamouda, who works between al-Qayrawan and Milan.<\/p>\n Kang\u2019s site-specific installation, a meditation on place, time, and memory, is at the Bvlgari Pavilion in the Giardini della Biennale, with colorful spools of film unravelling, ceramic birds clustered on the ceiling, and bottles of liquor from her native Korea dotted around the floor.<\/p>\n Meanwhile over at the Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana, works from Favaretto and Ben Hamouda are presented under rooms whose ceilings were painted by Titian. From Ben Hamouda, a striking work which features two neon flames engulfing opposing walls, while Favaretto\u2019s long industrial shelving units containing her own vintage books\u2014each tome holding images folded neatly inside\u2014are an exercise in intimacy, tactility, and the cruciality of access to information. With hers, it\u2019s a case of do<\/em> touch the art. Say, by opening Darwin\u2019s L\u2019Origine Delle Specie<\/em> with a kitschy faux-antiquity picture of cherubs gambolling in a bucolic landscape, or peering at the mysterious image of a man walking that\u2019s tucked into Pasolini\u2019s Ragazzi di Vita<\/em>\u2014a book with a cover so fantastic I would have happily pocketed it. (I didn\u2019t.)<\/p>\n Kang had the first party, held at the art-filled Venice Venice Hotel (Bruce Nauman, Christo, Yoko Ono, et al.) It was a tight, packed affair; namely because the party was held a whisker away from the Ponte di Rialto, the water still beckoning even on a grey, gloomy Venetian early evening. It was cheek to jowl, so you had to carefully maneuver to sip some Ruinart champagne or an Erose Gin Martini or navigate eating a very delicious crostino with amberjack carpaccio, or saor-style prawns on polenta. The vibe was definitely celebratory\u2014and why wouldn\u2019t it be? This is Kang\u2019s first time showing at the Biennale, so friends and well-wishers came in their droves to congratulate her.<\/p>\n The next evening\u2019s cocktail was held at the Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana, where the crowd worked their way through Favoretto\u2019s bookshelves. For Bvlgari\u2019s Laura Burdese, the house\u2019s deputy CEO, the two days were a vindication of taking a quieter, more measured approach to support for the Biennale; letting the art and the artists breathe, and respectfully and sensitively not bombarding the event with brand messaging. \u201cIt\u2019s been about showing our shared vision,\u201d she said of the relationship between Bvlgari and the Biennale, \u201cwhich is to celebrate art and artists in all their forms. That creativity and imagination have no boundaries.\u201d And for Burdese, while she\u2019s proud that Bvlgari is supporting three unique women artists, Monia Ben Hamouda\u2019s participation is particularly special.<\/p>\n The artist, whose work thoughtfully navigates Western art and Islamic art in honour of her Italian and Tunisian heritage, was a winner of the MAXXI Bvlgari art prize last year, an initiative between the house and the MAXXI art museum in Rome.<\/p>\n Her flame neons licked up the walls to the Titian painting aloft, which is entitled The Knowledge,<\/em> and her work was a clever consideration of learning, and how it can be manipulated, denied, and controlled. As the art crowd surged into the room, her work casting a red glow over them, she was thrilled to be taking part in the Biennale. \u201cWhen I was a student, I would come and sneak into the events,\u201d Ben Hamouda said, laughing. \u201cBut to be here now, showing my work, well, it\u2019s a dream.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n