In different sources you can find different versions of the origin of the word "biennale": from Latin or Italian. Obviously, linguists are en titled to different points of view, because there are a lot of Latinisms in the Italian language.
Biennale – what is it?
Where did the word come from? It comes from the Latin "bis" + "annuus". It turns out the Biennale - what is it? Translated into Russian - an event that occurs once every two years.
The second version says that the word biennale (spelling - "biennale") was formed from the Italian adjective biennale, that is, "biennial". There is also a triennial. As you may have guessed, it takes place every three years. The word "biennale" is not declined.
Now you will not wonder: "Biennale - what is it?". But another one arises: what kind of event can be held every two years? Remember that a biennale can be a festival, an exhibition or even a competition. In the first case, the noun agrees in the masculine gender: the next biennale has passed. And if it is used to designate an exhibition, then the word is consistent in the feminine gender:the architectural biennale has ended.
Where did the Biennial first take place?
This significant event took place in Venice in 1895. The organizers decided to repeat the project every two years: visitors and participants liked it so much. Representatives from 16 countries participated in the first Venice Biennale. And later it gained popularity around the world - today the number of participants tends to a hundred. Since the second half of the 20th century, the Venice Biennale has been the main venue for presenting contemporary art.
During the Second World War, the exhibition was not held in the Italian city of canals and bridges. And then we decided to restart. And in 1948 the first post-war biennale took place. The organizers rightly decided that art can heal wounds and scars, help rethink history and lead to dialogue between peoples.
The breakthrough in 1975 was made by the organizers of the architectural biennale, which became the second largest after the art one. And since then, they began to hold events related to other types of art, for example, cinema, theater, music. You can guess for yourself that this is a biennale if the project takes place every two years.
Do such large-scale projects take place in Russia?
Yes, in Yekaterinburg, Krasnoyarsk, Kaliningrad and the capital. The Moscow Biennale introduces contemporary art. Today it is the largest and most influential exhibition in the Russian Federation.
Around the main project, which is the core of the biennale,parallel programs are merged.
