Barbara Lee Smith: Viva Arte Viva, 2017 Venice Biennale

The 57th International Art Exhibition, titled Viva Arte Viva is now in full flow at Arsenale and Giardini venues, and in several locations in Venice, Italy. With 120 invited artists exhibiting, 103 of these are participating for the first time.

An irresistible event for Textile artist Barbara Lee Smith who took herself off to the City of Canals, and here she shares her thoughts about what she discovered.

Barbara Lee Smith: The oldest, biggest art exhibition in the world is the Venice Biennale. I haven’t any idea why I waited so long to go to this event, and now I have two years to wait for the next one. So, here’s my bottom line: Go this year if you possibly can.

This 57th Biennale runs through to November 26, so you may be able to summon up the time and money for a trip to Venice. Okay, now you can get back to reflecting on some of the artist’s works that moved me. Check out the many websites about the artists, countries and the dozens of exhibitions around the city while you are at it.