Venice Biennale National Pavilions

Finland pavilion by Alvar Aalto, 1956; The Venice Biennale is a major contemporary art exhibition that takes place once every two years (in odd years) in Venice. The formal Biennale is based at a park, the Giardini Napoelonici (created under Napoleon Bonaparte, 1807), also called the Giardini Biennale. The Giardini houses 30 permanent national pavilions. Alongside the Central Pavilion, built in 1894 and later restructured and extended several times, the Giardini are occupied by a further 29 pavilions built at different periods by the various countries participating in the Biennale. The Giardini are the property of the individual countries and are managed by their ministries of culture. As well as the national pavilions there are countless "unofficial pavilions" that spring up every year. In 2009 (the year photographed) there were pavilions such as the Gabon Pavilion and a Peckham pavilion. Source: Wikipedia; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page (accessed 6/22/2015