Ireland was represented at the 2005 biennale by a group of seven artists. This time round, Mike Fitzpatrick, the affable director of Limerick City Gallery of Art, who has taken on the role of commissioner of the Irish pavilion, has gone for a single critically acclaimed artist at a key stage in his career.

Byrne has been taking part in several high-profile international exhibitions recently, including at the Whitney Museum, Tate Triennial and Istanbul Biennale, as well as a current solo show at the Lisson Gallery in London and an upcoming exhibition at the prestigious Kunstverein in Dusseldorf. "There's huge interest in Gerry at the moment, " says Fitzpatrick.

Byrne is quite self-effacing about the whole project.

"I guess I'm meant to say it's an honour and all that, and of course I suppose in a way it is, but it's more that it's nice to have so much positive support from the art community here generallyf It feels like a real endorsement."

The artist has developed a reputation for his photographs and video work, which often focus on recreating or re-presenting documents and events from recent history. The film 1984 and beyond, for example, is a dramatic recreation of a 1963 meeting of sci-fi writers, during which they discussed the future.

"A lot of Gerry's themes are quite universal thoughts we have about where we are, where we've come from, how we imagine ourselves, " says Fitzpatrick. The biennale show will feature several recent films and photographs, as well as a new work currently in production . . . and strictly under wraps.

This year's exhibition features national representations from almost 80 countries and is expected to attract around 260,000 visitors. It also marks an important development, in that a new, more accessible location has been found. Previously, the Irish pavilion was somewhat off the beaten track, whereas now it will be on the principal route to the Arsenale, where the main international exhibition and the majority of the national pavilions are housed.

The Irish pavilion will also share the new venue with Northern Ireland. Its commissioner, Hugh Mulholland, has chosen Willie Doherty as Northern Ireland's representative. Like Byrne, he is an internationally renowned, mid-career artist who works in video and photography.

"I'm a big fan of Willie and his work, and he actually taught me in NCAD, " says Byrne. "He's a very important artistic figure in Ireland and very important to me, and I also think there's a nice relationship between his practice and mine."

The pairing of these artists and the consistent strength of their work is sure to generate significant international interest in the Irish contingent at the biennale. But for those of you who can't make it to Venice, the two exhibitions will return to Ireland in 2008, where they will be displayed at Farmleigh Gallery.

The Venice Biennale runs from 10 June to 21 November.

More details: www. irelandvenice. com