Monday, May 30

I am typing this on the Eurostar flying through the countryside from Milan to Venice. I have started my residency in Bellagio, on Lake Como, and in between the hours of work, have been wandering around this small town, drawn by the ever changing light on the silver and black Lake Como, and the enormous charm of the ochre and red buildings which line the steep narrow cobbled streets.

Evening light on Lake Como

A visit to the graveyard reveals the genealogical history of the families of this town. Almost every gravestone has photographs, dating back to the earliest days of photography, austere sepia portraits in oval frames which gaze out into eternity. It’s also a history of photographic portraiture itself – family members who died in recent years appear in colour, set in modernistic glass frames.

The grave of the family Sala-Grossi

But now it’s on to Venice, and the mad four days as the entire art world descends upon this tiny island to look, to party, to gossip, and occasionally , one hopes to stand in awe, as the 54th Biennale, entitled ILLUMInations, opens to the world.

Entering Venice by train

Tomorrow night I will go to a cocktail party at the magnificent recently restored Ca’ Giustinian , hosted by chief curator Bice Curiger and director of the Biennale, Paolo Baratta to honour the artists, lenders and supporters of the Biennale.

Let the party begin.