Recently changed into a foundation, the Biennale of Venice dates back to 1895 and owes its name to the International Art Exhibition that used to take place every two years in Venice (i.e. biennial).
Over the years, the exhibition also organised various events concerned with contemporary culture. Hence the Festival of Music in 1930, the Venice International Film Festival in 1932, the Theatre of Prose in 1934 and the Architectural Exhibition in 1975. Its Archives of Contemporary Arts contains extensive documentation of the period, an important source of information and study centre.

The various events organised by the La Biennale di Venezia Foundation are hosted in a series of locations throughout the city: the Art Pavilions in the gardens of Castello, the old rope factory (Corderie) at the Arsenale, the rooms of the Sale alle Zattere, the granaries on Giudecca and Palazzo del Cinema on the island of Lido.

The new Venice Biennale was one of the organisers of the famous International Festival of 2007. On that occasion, the Foundation once again drew on the services of the director Maurizio Scaparro, responsible for reintroducing and reinventing the “Carnevale di Venezia” in the 1980s after a gap of several decades. Scaparro was asked to create a new version of the Carnival of Theatre, especially since 2007 marked the third centenary of the birth of the great Venetian playwright, Carlo Goldoni.

The result was a totally novel event. The director managed to combine two important aspects of Venetian culture: its love of theatre and its millennial close links with Chinese culture. The 38th International Theatre Festival entitled “The Dragon and the Lion” was a huge success with extraordinary performances by Chinese and Italian actors recreating the cultural melting-pot that Scaparro called a “utopia possibile”.

1800 - 2000 - - rev. 0.1.7