THE president of Venice Biennale will attend the opening ceremony of the 2009 Shenzhen & Hong Kong Bi-city Biennale of Urbanism\Architecture: City Mobilization, it was disclosed yesterday.

Paolo Barata has accepted an invitation by Vice Mayor Tang Jie to attend the bi-city biennale. Tang invited him during a promotional trip to Venice earlier this month. It was the first time the Shenzhen Municipal Government had promoted the biennale abroad, participants of the trip said at a seminar yesterday.

The city government held a promotional party June 5 on a ferry boat near Giardini, the main exhibition site of the Venice Biennale. It drew more than 100 top artists and curators attending the 53rd Art Biennale in Venice.

Tang gave a speech in English in which he outlined his ambitions for the biennale. "Shenzhen is an example of China's rapidly urbanized cities," he said. "The 2009 Shenzhen biennale will display rigorous academic quality and experimental spirit, as well as adhere to international biennale standards."

The third Shenzhen biennale will take place from Dec. 11, 2009, to Jan. 31, 2010.

Source:Shenzhen Daily