© Luca Campigotto Aligned on the south side of the Arsenale, the Corderie was built in 1303.

Breaking with the tradition of the single commissioner, this year's Biennale is based around ten self-standing projects. Its director, Francesco Bonami, has allowed ten commissioners to each set up an exhibition throughout the spaces of the Arsenale and the Giardini della Biennale. Each visitor will therefore be free to choose his own itinerary. There will be no beginning and no end but various settings with different visions and concepts used as tools to tackle a contemporaneous voyage as reflected by the general title: "Dreams and Conflicts - The Dictatorship of the Viewer". "Our times no longer allow a major contemporary art event to be organised as a purely aesthetic exercise cut off from the world and society", explains Francesco Bonami. The viewer will thus be able to build upon each of these singular contemporary artistic experiences.

	© Giorgio Zucchiatti The Gaggiandre, two large wet-docks built in 1568-1573.

The Biennale will be held throughout the city of Venice where the subjects and perspectives change continually. It will be an opportunity for visitors to discover the Giardini della Biennale - where the exhibition has been held traditionally ever since its inception in 1895 - or ancient palaces specially opened to the public for the occasion. In addition, since 1999, the Arsenale - the former Venetian shipyard founded in 1104 - has been undergoing renovation to become a space devoted to art. The Corderie dell'Arsenale are hosting a series of exhibitions including Clandestini / Clandestine, presenting "emerging" artists from countries which were not traditional Biennale participants, such as Turkey or Poland. At the Museo Correr you can visit Pittura / Painting. From Rauschenberg to Murakami, 1964-2003 a retrospective curated by Francesco Bonami himself which will include works by leading proponents of contemporary art such as Alberto Burri, Jean Michel Basquiat, Lucio Fontana and many others. Turning to the British pavilion, this year the black artist Chris Ofili is taking centre stage with his Within reach exhibition. Perhaps you would like to conclude this voyage in the Giardini by visiting La Zona / The Zone, a structure hosting research and work by young Italian artists. The Biennale will also be present outside the lagoon. A work called the cord will "narrate" the entire Biennale in eleven other Italian towns by means of a scattered tubular structure.