Boats and trains, not planes: reflections on a greener-but sometimes greenwashed-Venice Biennale

Traveling from England to Italy by train provides a more environmentally friendly and comfortable arrival into Venice, avoiding long lines, crowded water buses, and expensive private water taxis. The route takes about 24 hours door to door with changes in Paris and Stuttgart, but allows productive time, scenic views, and an overnight stop in a cozy cabin before arriving in Venice before 9am. The main drawback is expense, roughly three times the cost of budget airlines, though it can be comparable to high-end air travel plus water transport. The Venice Biennale also placed environmental considerations at the forefront, with Koyo Kouoh’s central exhibition statement emphasizing an invitation aligned with those concerns.

"As well as being more environmentally friendly, it was also an infinitely more pleasant way to arrive: no snaking lines at passport control, no long trundle to the quayside for the crowded Alilaguna water bus, or haggling with an eye-wateringly pricey private water taxi. Instead, a magical, lagoon-skimming viaduct deposits you directly into the heart of the city where, once through the-frankly gorgeous-Fascist/Modernist 1930s Santa Lucia station building, you are bang on the Grand Canal where any boat of your choice awaits."

"Yes, it takes longer-24 hours door to door from London, with changes in Paris and Stuttgart-but you can get work done, be treated to some great Franco-German views, see the Rhine, go through the Alps and (after a stopover bratwurst dinner and a surprisingly comfortable night in a cozy cabin) be deposited in Venice before 9am. The only snag is the expense: it costs about three times more than budget airlines."

"But that's still not much more than a high-end air ticket and water taxi into town. Luckily I had a generous sponsor-thank you, Sam Talbot-but for the next Biennale if any green-inclined philanthropist(s) felt like chartering a Venice train for the sector's foot soldiers, it would be much cheaper and way cleaner than hiring a private jet. (As well as setting a splendid example and helping to save the planet, just think of the kudos and goodwill such a gesture would accrue!)"

"But it was also a Biennale that, more than any other I can recall, put environmental considerations front and centre. In the statement accompanying her central exhibition In Minor Keys, the late Koyo Kouoh declared that she wanted to invite"

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