This week we’re bringing you the second of our whole programme specials devoted to the 56th Venice Biennale. In our earlier look at the biennale we focused on Asian artists, including Hong Kong’s representative, and some of the collateral events taking place outside the national pavilions. This week, we look at some of the national contributions and the central exhibition, “All the World’s Futures”.

There were going to be 90 national pavilions in this year’s Venice Biennale. That didn’t happen, because three pulled out. Costa Rica withdrew after artists complained that out of 50 artists represented, 46 were not from Costa Rica and each had paid 5,000 euros per piece to get there. Kenya ran into controversy after planning to submit ten Chinese artists, one Italian, and one Kenyan, supposedly to represent Kenyan art. And Nigeria’s government, facing an election year, decided it didn’t want to risk being accused of wasting money on art and simply did not pay the necessary fees to take part.