Words Gabrielle de la Cruz and Philippine Arts in Venice Biennale
Header Marco Zorzanello, courtesy of La Biennale di Venezia
“To pursue the commitment to offer a robust voice in shaping contemporary architecture and its practice, the CALL FOR CURATORIAL PROPOSALS for the Philippine representation at the 19th International Architecture Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia in 2025 is announced,” read the Philippine Arts in Venice Biennale open call posted last January 26, 2024. The upcoming edition is the biennale’s 19th year and is the Philippines’ fifth time to participate. “The conversations initiated by the past four editions since the country joined in 2016 “remain relevant to this day, locally and globally.”
Proposals for this edition are anticipated to be premised on current local and global concerns such as surging urbanization, environmental sustainability, and social equity. The announcement stated that the world is at a “pivotal moment in history,” and innovative architectural solutions for these pressing issues are needed. “In the Philippines, the swift expansion of urban areas has introduced a multitude of issues and difficulties, encompassing environmental decline, unemployment, inefficient housing, and overall decline in the well-being of city inhabitants,” the call added. With this, proposals are expected to be grounded in research and involve interdisciplinary collaboration.
Read on for a briefer on the 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale, along with details on what to include in your proposals.
What is the Venice Architecture Biennale?
The Venice Biennale is “a significant architecture platform in the world, affording unparalleled global representation.” It was founded in 1980 and is also known as the International Architecture Exhibition. The biennale gathers members of the architecture community in Venice, Italy every other year, with various nations having the chance to exhibit their work. A theme is followed by each participating country’s pavilion for every edition.
Who can submit their proposals for the Venice Architecture Biennale?
Filipino citizens who are “architects, curators, practicing artists from different disciplines, urban planners, ecological activists, geographers, historians and critics of space, heritage workers, and the like” are welcome to submit their proposals.
Qualifications of the proponent/curator are as follows:
- Natural-born, naturalized Filipino citizens, or Filipinos with dual citizenship upon submission of application (Kindly attach proof of identification and citizenship)
- Has participated as curator in at least one international contemporary exhibition or an exhibition involving artists from overseas
Qualifications of the exhibitor/s are as follows:
- Natural-born, naturalized Filipino citizens, or Filipinos with dual citizenship upon submission of application (Kindly attach proof of identification and citizenship)
- Has/have participated as exhibitor/s in at least one national contemporary exhibition or related projects/platforms
What should the proposal contain?
The proposal should have an exhibition title and a curatorial concept containing 1,000 to 1,500 words. This must be followed by a background or rationale of the proposed exhibition, which should be a minimum of 1,500 words and a maximum of 2,000 words.
A 1,000 to 1,500-word narrative walkthrough of the exhibition is also required, along with a 3D visual walkthrough in mp4 format. Submissions must also contain the following:
- Proposed exhibition lay-out
- Object list and display system
- Production/fabrication schedule of the proposed exhibition
- Budget (production of works only)
- CV of Proponent/Curator (include samples of 3 major works as Curator)
- CV of the Exhibitor/s (include samples of 3 major works)
- Contact Information
How do I submit a proposal?
- First, download the Curatorial Proposal form via this Google Doc link.
- Submit the completed Curatorial Proposal Form and ALL the documents only via email to info@philartvenicebiennale.net, with the subject heading “Curatorial Proposal Archi2025” on or before April 30, 2024. Take note that late submissions will not be accepted.
- Wait for the acknowledgment of your submitted proposal via email.
How will the Philippine representative be chosen?
“A technical panel will review and shortlist proposals from among the submissions,” the Philippine Arts in Venice Biennale answered. Take note that a meeting with the proponents of the shortlisted proposals will be held if necessary. A final panel of jurors will deliberate on the final proposals submitted by the shortlisted proponents, and will therefore select one curatorial proposal that will represent the Philippines at the 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale.
What happens once a representative is selected?
The selected proposal will be realized in the Philippine Pavilion in Arsenale in Venice, Italy to be opened to the public on May 24, 2025. Keep in mind that the open call does not fall under the grant program of the NCCA, and that the production of the exhibition will be directly facilitated and paid for by the NCCA through the PAVB Coordinating Committee and/or partner organization. “In this light, the proposed budget will not be released to the proponent but will be paid directly to all payees and suppliers.”
In addition, all expenses in the realization of the exhibition are subject to government auditing rules and regulations given its consideration as a government project. “Only the curator and an exhibitor will travel to Venice for an ocular visit to be funded by the project,” the call underlined. If necessary, an exhibition mock-up will also be mounted in Manila on a case-to-case basis.
What are the important dates to remember?
- January 26, 2024 – Open Call
- April 30, 2024 – Deadline for Entries
- May 31, 2024 – Announcement of selected proposal
- May 24, 2025 – Venice Architecture Biennale 2025
Any other reminders?
“As a participating country, the Philippines abides by the rules and regulations of la Fondazione la Biennale di Venezia, including matters pertaining to public safety and security,” PAVB noted. They also added that the La Biennale guideline on national participation clearly states that “only the Venice-based fabricators are allowed to mount the exhibition in all spaces in Arsenale and Giardini.”
The 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale’s curator is Professor Carlo Ratti, an architect and engineer by training. Ratti teaches at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and at the Politecnico di Milano. He is the director of the Senseable City Lab and a founding partner of the architecture and innovation office CRA-Carlo Ratti Associati (Torino, New York City, and London).
“I am honored and humbled to have the opportunity to curate the Biennale Architettura 2025,” Ratti shared in his declaration. “We architects like to think we are smart, but real intelligence is everywhere. The disembodied ingenuity of evolution, the growing power of computers, and the collective wisdom of the crowd. To face a burning world, architecture must harness all the intelligence around us.” •
