Australian pavilion

The Australian pavilion is a structure that houses Australia's national representation during the Venice Biennale arts festival. Although Australia has been represented at the festival since 1954, the first pavilion was only built in 1987, and replaced by a permanent structure in 2015.

Background
Formal participation by Australia in the Venice Biennale began in 1954. From 1978, the Australian Council for the Arts (now Creative Australia), managed and supported the national representation in the festival. In 2019 the Australia Council took over the commissioning of the works, which it does by open call for proposals.

there are 29 national pavilions built over a long period of time within the Giardini della Biennale (Biennale Gardens).

Original pavilion (1987)
The Australian pavilion was designed in 1987 by the Australia Council's Design Arts Board and constructed by 1988. The two-level single exhibition space includes a veranda-style entrance with a courtyard constructed around a pre-existing tree. This connection between internal space and landscape was designed to relate to architectural themes in Australia. The curvature of the pavilion's sheet metal roof is meant to invoke a wave.

The original Australian Pavilion, designed by Philip Cox to be a temporary structure of fiber cement and steel, was opened in 1988 at the western edge of the Giardini. Italian-born Australian industrialist Franco Belgiorno-Nettis had previously lobbied so successfully that in 1988 Australia beat 16 other countries to the last site on which to build a permanent pavilion in the Giardini. Cox and other generous donors gifted the pavilion to the Commonwealth Government. The pavilion was not heritage-protected because of its temporary status.

New pavilion (2015)
A new, permanent pavilion was designed by architectural practice Denton Corker Marshall and completed in 2015. Built from concrete and steel, the two-storey structure contains 240 m2 of exhibition space, and the exterior is covered in black granite from Zimbabwe.

Although Australia's participation at the Venice Biennale was being managed by the Australia Council, funded by the Commonwealth Government, all of the A$6 million originally needed for the new building had to be raised from the private sector. Eventually, the pavilion cost $7.5 million to build, $1 million of which was funded by the Australia Council; the rest was donated by 82 private Australian donors, including actress Cate Blanchett and producer Santo Cilauro.

The pavilion has won several architectural awards:
 * 2012: First Prize – Design Competition
 * 2016: AIA National Jorn Utzon Award for the Most Outstanding Work of International Architecture
 * 2016: AIA International Architecture Awards – Award for Most Outstanding Work of Public Architecture Abroad

Before the pavilion was built

 * 1954 — Sidney Nolan, Russell Drysdale, William Dobell
 * 1956 — Albert Tucker
 * 1958 — Arthur Streeton, Arthur Boyd
 * 1978 — Ken Unsworth, John Davis, Robert Owen
 * 1980 — Mike Parr, Tony Coleing, Kevin Mortensen
 * 1982 — Peter Booth, Rosalie Gascoigne
 * 1984 — no participation
 * 1986 — Imants Tillers

In the first Australian Pavilion

 * 1988 — Arthur Boyd (Curator: Grazia Gunn) (Peter Tyndall was exhibited in the Arsenale)
 * 1990 — Trevor Nickolls, Rover Thomas
 * 1993 — Jenny Watson (Curator: Judy Annear)
 * 1995 — Bill Henson (Curator: Isobel Crombie)
 * 1997 — Judy Watson, Yvonne Koolmatrie, Emily Kngwarreye (Curators: Hetti Perkins, Brenda L Croft, Victoria Lynn)
 * 1999 — Howard Arkley (Curator: Timothy Morrell)
 * 2001 — Lyndal Jones (Curator: John Barret-Lennard)
 * 2003 — Patricia Piccinini (Curator: Linda Michael)
 * 2005 — Ricky Swallow (Curator: Charlotte Day)
 * 2007 — Callum Morton, Susan Norrie, Daniel von Sturmer
 * 2009 — Shaun Gladwell, Vernon Ah Kee, Ken Yonetani, Claire Healy and Sean Cordeiro (Curator: Felicity Fenner)
 * 2011 — Hany Armanious (Curator: Anne Ellegood)
 * 2013 — Simryn Gill (Curator: Catherine de Zegher)

In the new Australian pavilion

 * 2015 — Fiona Margaret Hall (Curator: Linda Michael)
 * 2017 — Tracey Moffatt (Curator: Natalie King)
 * 2019 — Angelica Mesiti (Curator: Juliana Engberg)
 * 2022 — Marco Fusinato (Curator: Alexie Glass-Kantor)
 * 2024 — Archie Moore's kith and kin' (Curator: Ellie Buttrose);  winner of the Golden Lion award for Best National Participation