The pandemic has changed how we travel, but it has also changed our expectations of and attitudes towards an overseas trip.
In the before times, travel might’ve been a marathon, following the dots from point A to point B, but now immersing oneself in a city and experiencing the outside world takes prominence as we relish the unfamiliar sensation of visiting another country.
Andy Dinan, arts consultant and Director of Australia’s MARS Gallery, adopted this approach on her recent trip to Photo Basel where she exhibited artist Atong Atem. The same trip also saw her visiting Art Basel and the Venice Biennale.
Here, Dinan shares her tips for a holistic art journey and explains why you shouldn’t try and maximise your time abroad.
Get lost in Venice
‘Sometimes when I travel, it is what happens on the journey that makes my journey,’ Dinan said, ‘and my personal highlight of my recent trip to Art Basel and the Venice Biennale was when I got lost and found myself at the Palazzo Grassi at Marlene Dumas exhibition, and it alone was worth making the trip to Venice for.
‘I had never seen Dumas’s work before but it both stole my eye and my heart and at times made me angry and repelled too. What more could I ask for in an exhibition?’
Dinan continued: ’Set in the amazing Palazzo Grazzi I ran from image to image like a child at a candy store and just could not get enough.
‘I marvelled at her research, insights, anger, love, and her sheer talent with a paint brush.’
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Other highlights of Dinan’s Venice trip included the British Pavilion, the New Zealand Pavilion and of course, our very own Australia Pavilion.
’I spent several days roaming the Arsenale and Giardini. I swung from feeling proud standing at the Australian Pavilion (thank you dear Alexie Glass-Kantor) to dancing my feet off at the British Pavilion – bravo Sonia Boyce, your video, audio and performance work kept me on my toes – and the New Zealand Pavilion curated by Natalie King provided me with some hearty debate material at dinner that night.
‘Some hated the historical, political social presentation, I personally loved the queer utopia created. I debated long and hard over this and that is what art should make you want to do!!’
Savour your time, don’t save it
Especially in a city like Venice where time flows like the ebbing waves, there’s no use in rushing your journey. The UNESCO heritage-listed site has plenty to offer in its surroundings.
Dinan said: ’Don’t maximise your time – take your time, slow down, get lost, stop for a vino at the corner in the sun, look up and down at the hand painted-tiles, eat the gelato, buy the leather bag you have always wanted.
‘Get close to the art. Sit and ponder at that fountain, stare at the brushstrokes on a mural, talk to beggars, the buskers, and the cute artist at the bar but just breathe and do everything you can ’cause that is how you make great travel memories.
‘Some people would say plan ahead, buy tickets online, plan and research etc. and save time for the art galleries but my memories are made of chatting, meeting, and living each moment as you go,’ she said.
Tips on networking?
For many who work in the arts industry, it’s difficult to separate looking at art for work or for leisure, especially when you’re surrounded by it.
Should we use this travelling opportunity to build international networks and get our names out there?
Speaking from her experience, Dinan advised the opposite: ’I find it best not to try to network, as whenever I try to network I get nervous and say the wrong thing to important people.
’Now I have a new strategy that works – I don’t network, I just have a fabulous time wherever I go.
‘I drink wine, eat a lot, talk to everybody about what I care about, shop a lot till my Visa breaks and before I know it I have met people who share my passion for art and life and we are connected in a real-life way,’ she concluded.
