You need to give yourself time, at least three days. A pair of sneakers and that childlike predisposition to wonder. It doesn’t matter if you’re not an art expert, or even particularly passionate about it, but at least once the Venice Biennale must be seen, or rather, experienced (until November 24).
Leaving aside the migration of the art world crowd, with its well-worn routes and rituals shaped by years of exhibitions and vernissages, and setting aside the classic pavilions of the Giardini and the Arsenale, one might opt for an alternative itinerary: that of the great historic palaces, often opened only for the occasion. An off-route, collateral path, more indulgent for the eyes. A way to wander through sequences of salons draped in baroque silks, to twirl beneath gigantic Murano glass chandeliers, heavy as mountains yet so fragile, to sit on inlaid armchairs. Not to mention that, among heavy velvet curtains and oil portraits of courtiers and former owners, contemporary artworks engage in dialogue. Who certainly have something to say.
Such is the case with photographer Brigitte Niedermair from Merano, whose solo exhibition, self-referentially titled Me and Fashion 1996–2018, is hosted at Palazzo Mocenigo. A private residence left to the Municipality after testamentary disputes, it is worth visiting even just for its magnificent library of 6,000 volumes on the history of fashion, costume, and perfume. Palazzo Mocenigo is normally home to the Museum of Textiles and Perfume. For the Biennale, its other rooms are devoted to Niedermair’s work. She is a photographer and master storyteller, rigorous in execution and polished in aesthetic, with a kind of non-resentful feminist edge that captivated designer Maria Grazia Chiuri, who entrusted her with Dior’s global campaign. “I removed all the portraits of men, except one because it is impossible to detach from the wall, but beside it I placed a photograph that perfectly matches it in tone and chromatic harmony.” Particularly striking is the silk lampas, measuring six by eight meters, featuring gigantic scarlet lips and a tongue of flame, an iconic shot by the South Tyrolean photographer, transformed into a tapestry thanks to the craftsmanship of the weavers at the historic furnishing textile house Rubelli.
Remaining within the same realm of patronage, Rubelli also hosts at Ca’ Pisani Rubelli the performance exhibition Loom by Argentine artist Marcela Cernadas. Drawing on the figure of Penelope, she reflects on waiting and on the act of weaving and unweaving as a persuasive practice. The installation is evocative and offers the opportunity to see the palace, owned by the family since the late nineteenth century, now restored and furnished in a contemporary style with Donghia and Rubelli Casa collections.
Not to mention the company archive, founded about 130 years ago: slender drawers preserve 7,000 textile and paper documents, from fifteenth-century gold threads to collaborations with major architects such as Gio Ponti and designers like Roberta di Camerino.
Newly vibrant and international in spirit, Palazzo Franchetti is a multifaceted jewel of historical and architectural stratification: from Gothic elements to nineteenth-century interventions that tell of the private and dynastic histories of the families who succeeded one another there. It is here that Franco Calarota, a seasoned gallerist from Bologna, chose to inaugurate his foundation with the exhibition Jean Dubuffet and Venice, reopening the splendid residence to the public.
Adjacent to Palazzo Franchetti, on the Grand Canal, one should not miss Palazzo Barbaro, a noble residence consisting of two buildings, one from the fifteenth century and the other from the seventeenth. The latter houses one of the most astonishing ballrooms in the lagoon city, decorated in part by Giambattista Tiepolo, though some of the decoration has been lost. By appointment only via email, visitors may see Anthropometry, an exhibition dedicated to the multifaceted artist Getulio Alviani, one year after his passing.
In Piazza San Marco, it is worth climbing the grand staircase of Ca’ Correr and crossing sequences of breathtaking salons to reach the Sala delle Quattro Porte for Sabra Beauty Everywhere, the photographs that Mantua-born Sara Dynys dedicated to the children of Beirut: a triptych narrative that emphasizes the joy of childhood rather than the violence of poverty.
While Palazzo Fortuny frequently hosts events, access to the rooms of Palazzo Ferro Fini, seat of the Veneto Regional Council, is more difficult. For the Biennale, however, its elegant halls overlooking the Grand Canal, opposite the Church of Santa Maria della Salute, were opened to host Between Reality and Imagination, a tribute to the long career of artist Alberto Biasi.
There would also be the palaces Contarini Polignac, Grimani, Querini Stampalia. But one cannot do everything. Evening has arrived, and a spritz with cicchetti can wait no longer.