As part of the IB Visual Arts Diploma Programme, the Grade 11 and 12 students went to the Venice Biennale, the international art exhibition that is held in the Castello district of Venice every two years. On this trip, the students explored the exhibition and the city for two days. They collected their impressions in their art journals with notes, drawings and personal responses.
One of the student participants wrote the text below, to give you a few impressions of the memorable trip.
“A nine hour train ride seems like nothing the moment you’re in Venice. Stepping out the train and being immediately hit by a cold sea breeze. And then the realization that you’re already ensnared in the byzantine architecture, the scent of baked goods, the street musician’s distant song: the city is saturated with art in every form. Another hour and at the campsite, students scattered around already at work sketching their surroundings, every work coming from a different view of the same scene. After a dinner consisting of assorted pastries scavenged from the local supermarket, exhaustion beat the adrenaline, and everyone had drifted off to dream by midnight.
Through the dark, fog slithered through the cracks of windows and into the bedrooms, waking all the next day to crisp autumn morning air. Morning and night, the journey to the exhibition was by water bus, packed with high-spirited students as well as bustling tourists, both eager to imbibe in the art of the city, pumping like blood through the canals of Venice.
Once you make it past the beep, beep, beeping of the ticket scanners, each student was free to roam the exhibits for six hours, breathe in the works of art each connected with most, and exhale it back into their journal. But no easy job, a peek into each corner of the Giardini and Arsenale revealed at least one kid glued to their work, not even noticing fellow tourists shifting closer to spy a look.
Reaching sunset, everyone was released to explore the cities in groups of newly made friends. In the streets of Venice the biggest struggle became resisting the urge to not splurge on vibrant hued Murano glass and intricate beaded jewelry, a battle almost everyone lost as they left the shops carrying brown paper bags, brand new bracelets jangling against their wrists. And finally, dinner satiated both hunger and spirit, being accompanied by a view of gondolas passing lazily through the canal.
The final boat back to the campsite, and by late night each bedroom, was buzzing with all the warmth gifted to each of us by the city. Then a dreamless night dawned to the last morning of the trip, and a pack of forty students dragged their feet and their suitcases all the way to the station. But a nine hour train ride back felt like nothing with all the new friends and experiences made in Venice.”
The Vienna International School prides itself on a very strong and successful arts programme. From music to visual and performing arts, the students have the ability to immerse themselves in the genre that best suits their talent. With highly qualified and dedicated artists as teachers, the students are able to develop and hone their skills, which allows them to express themselves as confident and competent artists.