High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! The Venice Biennale (Italian: Biennale di Venezia; also called in English the "Venice Biennial") is a major contemporary art exhibition that takes place once every two years (in odd years) in Venice, Italy. The Venice Film Festival is part of it. So too is the Venice Biennale of Architecture, which is held in even years. A dance section, the "International Festival of Contemporary Dance", was established in 1999.