The Venice Biennale has published the report of the 2024 edition, which ended on 24 November, showing an overall decrease in visitors, but an increase in those from underrepresented groups. The total comes to 699,304 tickets sold, with an average of 3,321 people per day. These figures are down from the previous record-breaking edition in 2022, when more than 800,000 tickets were sold and an average of 4,062 visitors attended ‘The Milk of Dreams’, curated by Cecilia Alemani, per day. In any case, this is the second best result ever.
What is even more remarkable is that of the almost 700,000 tickets sold this year, 30% were used by young people (under the age of 26) and students (35% of whom came from abroad to attend the Biennale). The Biennale also recorded a 150% increase in visitors taking part in educational activities and guided tours. Even more significant is the 67% increase in visitors participating in the Fragile Categories project, which included people with disabilities, mental health problems, the homeless, people with addictions, migrants, minors, and generally individuals in situations of social distress”.
In this sense, to make the exhibition more accessible, the Biennale’s programming included a sensory map indicating the environments in which sensory stimuli are present, specific services, an easy-to-read guide for people with cognitive disabilities, and special routes that the Biennale designed for visually impaired or blind members of the public.
A concrete response to the inclusive intentions of this year’s curator, Brazilian Adriano Pedrosa, artistic director of the São Paulo Museum of Art, who at the time of his appointment had immediately declared his desire to give “visibility to artists from the Global South, as well as indigenous artists, queer artists, self-taught artists and 20th century figures from Africa, Asia and Latin America”. And thus also to all visitors belonging to a minority, which is gradually being perceived less and less as such.
