Request for Proposals September 14 – November 23, 2008, Venice, Italy The Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) of U.S. Department of State requests proposals from U.S. curators of architecture and design to organize the official U.S. representation at the 2008 Venice Biennale of Architecture. The Venice Biennale will present its 11th Architecture Exhibition beginning September 14, 2008. The architecture exhibition is a showcase for leading ideas in contemporary architecture and planning through national representations and via an overarching international exhibition typically installed at the historic Italian Pavilion in the Giardini di Castello, and in the Arsenale and Corderie. National representations take place at pavilions in the Giardini and at other sites around Venice. The Biennale is organized by an NGO, La Biennale di Venezia, Società di Cultura, formed for the express purpose of planning and implementing all Venetian biennial exhibitions including those for film and visual arts. The Biennale has selected Aaron Betsky, director of the Cincinnati Art Museum as the director for the 2008 edition of the exhibition. The title of Mr. Betsky’s project, Out There: Architecture Beyond Building, begins with the premise that “architecture today cannot be practiced in isolation; that art, literature, film, landscape architecture, and design have a vital role in the way we think about and live in buildings.” The Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs seeks proposals for an exhibition that will examine in detail visionary and innovative projects and proposals by U.S. architects and cultural practitioners that are consistent with or complementary to the Biennale’s theme. Curators are encouraged to employ a multi-disciplinary and multi-media approach to this subject. Proposals are welcome but not limited to, those that explore the life of the city as articulated through new trends and ideas in sustainable economic development and urban planning; the informal city – a product of unplanned or accidental growth; the role of historic and cultural preservation in animating urban space and life; the relationship and role of landscape architecture in constructing habitable cities; and the city as a platform for the construction of social relationships and social space, whether formal or informal. AVAILABLE SUPPORT $140,000 ECA will make up to $75,000 available for all aspects of exhibition development, preparation, travel of curators and key participants, production, installation, and the return or onward shipping of the exhibition at the Biennale’s end. An additional $65,000 is paid directly to the Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Venice, to pay base costs associated with staffing, maintenance, and operations of the U.S. Pavilion during installation, and for the approximate two month period of the exhibition. Additional funds may be available for a publication and public programs organized by the curators in consultation with the Cultural Programs office of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. PRE-PROPOSAL PLANNING Planning and budgeting for exhibitions in the U.S. Pavilion is a complicated process, and requires that you first obtain a complete set of guidelines, and floor plans. Please do not submit a proposal without first discussing your project with Marisa Benson in the Cultural Programs Office at the U.S. Department of State. For additional information, please contact Marisa Benson at (202) 203-7520 or bensonmn@state.gov. U.S. EXHIBITIONS The U.S. Pavilion is owned by the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation and managed by the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice. The building, designed in 1929 by the American architects Delano and Aldrich for Grand Central Galleries in New York, is neo-classical in style. The director and key staff of the Peggy Guggenheim Collection work closely with the Department of State and exhibition curators to install and maintain all official U.S. exhibitions presented in the Pavilion.
Proposals will be reviewed by members of the Federal Advisory Committee on International Exhibitions and leading American experts in architecture and design. The Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs will announce its decision by May 20, 2008. |
||||||||