Scotland will not be represented next year at the Venice Biennale after Scotland + Venice, the arts body responsible for the Scottish presentation at the prestigious event, decided to pause “on the project in 2024 to allow for a period of reflection and review”.
The cancellation next year is not a decision to withdraw from La Biennale, stresses a spokesperson for Scotland + Venice. “We anticipate the review process to be underway in Summer 2023 and opportunities to participate will be widely advertised. At the same time we’ll be working with partners to create funded opportunities for artists, curators and producers to engage with La Biennale [in Venice] in 2024,” she says.
Some Scottish arts professionals have expressed concern though. Katrina Brown, director of The Common Guild in Glasgow, says: “It is a shame after 20 years of Scotland + Venice but is a reflection of how precarious cultural funding is in Scotland. It’s worth bearing in mind that as a collateral event, rather than as an official pavilion, in Venice, Scotland + Venice has to pay substantial fees to the Venice Biennale. Pausing is not a bad thing but I hope it’s not a full stop.” The Common Guild organised the 2013 presentation, showing works by Corin Sworn, Duncan Campbell and Hayley Tompkins.
Robert Davis, professor of religious and cultural education at the University of Glasgow, tweeted in response to the announcement: “Would somebody at Holyrood [seat of the Scottish Parliament] please get a grip?”
Scotland + Venice is a partnership between various organisations including British Council Scotland and Creative Scotland, the government-funded development body for the arts and creative industries in Scotland.
The Scotland + Venice spokesperson adds that in the present financial environment, it feels necessary to review the current model of delivery. “The decision also acknowledges the impact that the project has on the environment and the need to consider how it can be delivered more ethically and sustainably into the future. Next steps will include a process of sectoral engagement and consultation to ensure that the project meets sectoral and partner ambitions and that it is being delivered ethically and sustainably.”
Alberta Whittle represented Scotland in Venice at the 2022 Biennale; she is showing new works in the exhibition Dipping Below a Waxing Moon, the Dance Claims Us at the Holburne Museum in Bath (until 8 May). Her largest exhibition to date launches next month at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art in Edinburgh (1 April-7 January 2024).
The Scotland + Venice architecture project at the Architecture Biennale (20 May-26 November), entitled A Fragile Correspondence, will go ahead as planned.