The 24th of November, 2024 marked the end of the seventh edition of Personal Structures. Organised by the European Cultural Centre, the biennial contemporary art exhibition brought together more than 200 multimedia artists, photographers, performers, along with galleries, universities and cultural institutions, coming from 51 different countries. Resulting in an inspiring showcase of innovative art installations and a stage for idea-sharing, Personal Structures ran from the 20th of April in the venues of Palazzo Bembo, Palazzo Mora and Marinaressa Gardens, in Venice.
During seven months, approximately 553.000 visitors visited the exhibition’s venues, whilst the ECC’s online platforms reached an increasing number of users of +35% on social media and gained over 140,500 website views. Personal Structures was covered by notable international media outlets such as Art Review, Cultured, Forbes, Monocle, Ocula, STIRworld, Wallpaper* and Italian media including Artribune, Exibart, Il Corriere della Sera, Il Giornale dell’Arte, Rai 3 TGR, SKY Arte, Wired, Venezia News. Additionally, the group show received consistent exposure thanks to valuable media partnerships established with Art Review, Exibart, Platform, Pigment International, Platform, STIRworld, and Venezia News.
ECC Awards 2024
On the occasion of the Closing Ceremony, the winners of this year’s ECC Awards were announced. All participants of Personal Structures 2024 were automatically eligible for consideration, providing an exciting opportunity for wider recognition in their respective fields. A group of esteemed industry experts carefully selected the winning artworks, celebrating excellence for the categories of Painting & Mixed Media, Sculpture & Installation, Video & Digital Art, Photography, and University & Research Projects. The jury was composed of a group of professionals working in the arts including Amit Gupta, Founder & Editor in Chief at STIRworld; Steve Bisson, Head of the Photography Department at Paris College of Art, Founder of Penisola Edizioni, and Editor-in-Chief at Urbanautica; Alexandra Laqueur, Managing Director and Maria Nek, Co-founder of the European Cultural Academy; and Saskia Fernando, Director of Saskia Fernando Gallery, Paradise Road Group and Founder of KALĀ platform. The winners received a unique limited edition artwork by the Dutch artist René Rietmeyer, founder of the European Cultural Centre.
The 2024’s winners are the following:
- Painting & Mixed Media | The ECC Award goes to Chen Mei-Tsen with the project Paradise, exhibited at Palazzo Bembo.
- Sculpture & Installation | The ECC Award goes to Emily Young with the installation Embodied Consciousness, exhibited at Palazzo Mora and Marinaressa Gardens.
- Photography | The ECC Award goes to Sandra Cattaneo Adorno with the project Ten Years, exhibited at Palazzo Bembo.
- Video & Digital Art | The ECC Award goes to Yao Jui-chung with the project Republic of Cynic: 1989, exhibited at Palazzo Mora.
- University & Research Projects | The ECC Award goes to Rochester Institute of Technology, College of Art and Design with the project Cultural Disruptors, exhibited at Palazzo Mora.
Special Projects
This year the European Cultural Centre had the pleasure to host a series of special projects and strengthen collaborations with international artists and institutions. Exhibited outside Arsenale Nord was Arena for a Tree, a site-specific project by Klaus Littmann created with the support of Kultustiftung Basel H. Geiger. The walk-in art intervention delivered a strong message about global warming and hopes for a sustainable future by presenting three isolated trees at the centre of a round 12 metre diameter amphitheatre.
For the third consecutive year, ECC Italy renewed its collaboration with Fiebre Photobook, the first and only festival in Spain specialised in photobooks. After taking part in the jury for the Dummy Award in 2023, ECC hosted once again a presentation of selected photobooks featured in past editions of the Festival.
Another important partnership was the one with Blurring the Lines, a non-profit organisation seeking to promote and encourage initiatives in the fields of photography and education. The photographic presentation by Vanessa Cowling, one of the winners of the 2023 Blurring the Lines’ award, was part of Personal Structures – Beyond Boundaries.
Event Programme
A programme including more than 106 events enhanced this year’s exhibition from April to November. A series of artist talks, conferences, along with workshops and performances, were hosted in the ECC venues and open to all visitors of the seventh edition of the exhibition. Every month, artists, gallerists, and academics joined ECC Italy in Venice shedding light on current concepts and questions in the fields of art and design. As part of the 2024’s programme, the second edition of the Personal Structures – Public Screenings, the engaging cinema-inspired event presenting a selection of short films from this year’s exhibitors, was hosted at Palazzo Michiel.
Beyond the exhibition
Reaching a wider and international audience, the exhibition was experienced beyond its physical spaces. Personal Structures – Beyond Boundaries was narrated extensively online through insightful editorials and exclusive content on the exhibition’s website as well as social media platforms. The show was documented with videos and photographs, as well as enhanced by a series of interviews that expanded on the concept behind selected artworks on display. Additionally, Personal Structures was made available thanks to the release of virtual tours which included details on the works exhibited and information about each participant.
The catalogue of the seventh edition of Personal Structures, curated and designed by the ECC Italy team, resulted in an extension of the exhibition itself, accompanying and guiding the spectator through the group show. It was printed in two different versions: a collectable hardcover publication and a paperback one, and available digitally and downloadable at the following link.
(27th november, 2024)
©gaiaitalia.com 2024 – diritti riservati, riproduzione vietata
