This week has been a busy but amazing one. Last Sunday we trained back into Venice (after doing a bit of art research in Berlin, Rome and Florence) and we definitely noticed a big change in Venice after 10 days away. A lot more big, super-boats have arrived for the Biennale, with Oracle founder Larry Ellison’s boat drawing much attention. Marc Quin’s confrontational work, Breath (an 11m high inflatable sculpture), was also notably present on the shore of San Giorgio Maggiore.

By Monday we were back into work mode, doing the final cleaning of our artwork. It was interesting to find out the Palazzo Bembo had to install another meter board as our exhibition was draining the power for the other exhibits. We were also given a bit more information on our venue at the Bembo: As it is a 15th century building of prominence, the building has frescos hidden behind some of the walls, hence the restriction of not being able to drill into the wall panelling in case one if the frescos behind is a Raphael! The first opening on Tuesday was very busy. A lot of people came through Palazzo Bembo and it was definitely the busiest opening I have had. There were very encouraging comments about the presence in the room The Folder Room has. (Scott Eady’s work in the courtyard looks great too; the bright colours of his Ivan sculptures definitely stand out against the sandy-colored plaster walls everywhere.) Interestingly, the Germans here really seem to ‘get’ the work, which is great.

Wednesday morning I went off to the Giardini, the site of the Biennale. The most interesting pavilion was the Russian one. It was theatrical, had great scale and, best of all, my wife Karena got to bring home a piece of the work (all of the women were allowed to bring home a coin that fell from the 15m high conveyor belt). Sarah Sze in the American pavilion was a winner too; there were amazing scale shifts in her work and I love work that is obsessive and this is definitely that as I heard that it took her six months to install the intricate assemblages. Mark Mander’s installation at the Dutch pavilion tested me the most; I will have to do a bit more reading about his work.

Bill Culbert‘s opening in the New Zealand Pavilion was very well done. Sir Nicholas Serota (Director of the Tate Modern) opened the exhibition and it was such a wonderful night for Bill and all those who have worked tireless to make this campaign such a success.

At our second opening event I met a writer from Art magazine (a high-profile German publication) who had just written a piece highlighting a couple of artists in the Palazzo Bembo of which he included The Folder Room. The crowds were busy as Lawrence Weiner (a big international artist) opened his show. Since then I’ve done some filming with Garth Bray for TVNZ, was fortunate enough to be introduced to prominent dealer from the Neitherlands and went off to the Arsenale exhibition spaces. This was the show hand-picked by the director of the Biennale and Simon Denny of New Zealand was definitely the highlight for me here. His work really stands up on the international stage.

It’s been great to have a few Kiwis popping in to Palazzo Bembo. I have struggled with my Italian, so it was great to be able to relax with my local lingo. After a month away in this beautiful city we are all looking forward to coming back home this week. The work will stay for now though: The Venice Biennale is open to the public until November 24.