The catalogue of the Venice Art Biennale: forms of expression, forms of content

The Venice Biennale catalogue, which has documented, for more than a century, art international events, currents and exponents, has never been a historical recognition. This paper, Italian version of a monograph in progress, show us its evolution, in the expressive forms as for the semantic features. The author explores, with a semiotic method, the ratio of tension and reciprocal presupposition between the catalogue and the exhibition, in a double movement: retrospective – from present to the past - and perspective - from present to future. This opens a debate on the kind of visitor that the catalogue prefigures and on the concept of cataloging work today