Fort Biennale 2026: Reclaiming Collective

FORT BIENNALE 2026
RECLAIMING COLLECTIVE

Festung Franzensfeste / Forte di Fortezza
14 June 2026 – 8 November 2026
Opening: 13 June 2026, 11am – 9pm

Curated by: Hannes Egger, Andrea Lerda, Veronika Vascotto

With the participation of: Rural Common Assembly

The second edition of Fort Biennale – hosted within one of the most significant military architectures in the entire Alpine region – is a journey in four chapters around the concept of togetherness.

The narrative – a form of response to the urgencies of the present, from the intensification of conflicts to the spread of authoritarianism, from the climate emergency to the crisis of human rights, from the opportunities of the digital sphere to the breakdown of interpersonal relationships – asserts that another world is not only possible, but already exists.

Fort Biennale 2026 is conceived as a creative, interactive, and open device. A tool for encountering alternative imaginaries beyond dominant contemporary paradigms. A space for collective imagination through which to exercise empathy, listening, and community.

“Reclaiming Collective” is an invitation to overcome the obstacles that produce separation. It is a declaration that alliances, participation, and mutual support can represent an alternative to the destructive individualism fueled by turbo-capitalism.

The works of around twenty Italian and international artists – with particular attention to the creative scene of the Euregio Tyrol–South Tyrol–Trentino – are presented within the sections Think, Play, Dance, and Act, in dialogue with the voices of researchers from Eurac Research.

The Fort Biennale will be accompanied by a programme of public events, which will be announced at the opening.

Daria Dmytrenko: Intrico

The contemporary art project ‘Vetrina’ inaugurated its second cycle of presentations in February 2024. After exploring the broad theme of nature through the site-specific works of the first nine invited artists, the focus has now shifted to the theme of activism, exclusively involving women artists who are enterprising and provocative in different ways and who have always, in their works, provided space for a proactive reflection on the contemporary world. The 2025 exhibition programme included “Night Eyes” by Mariana Hahn, “Tarocchi” by Isabella Staino, and “The Stream” by Manuela Kokanović.

For Vetrina#16, Mara Sartore has invited Venice-based artist Daria Dmytrenko (b. 1993, Ukraine). Working between painting and sculpture, Dmytrenko explores the visual expression of the subconscious, using intuitive impulses as a tool to bring forth deep memories and fears and transform them into visual compositions. She is fascinated by the obscurity of the human mind: she explores memories, fears, and nightmares, which appear in her artworks in the forms of monsters and anthropomorphic beasts that, in a way, all represent herself.

For this occasion, the artist will present “Intrico”, a site-specific installation where she will compare the subconscious to a dense forest. The thickness of the trees represents the complexity and depth of the human mind, while the creatures glancing from the bushes are incarnations of the emotional states, memories, and nightmares. They inhabit this space silently and steadily, existing in a kind of parallel time and dimension, not wishing to be discovered. The viewer can only peek carefully, without invading that balanced and untouched world.

“Vetrina” is a series of exhibitions curated by Mara Sartore for Vino Vero, in collaboration with Lightbox. After exploring the broad theme of nature through the site-specific works of the first nine invited artists, the focus has shifted towards creating a platform for women artists. This phase exclusively involves female artists, bold and provocative in different ways, who have always used their art to foster constructive reflections on the contemporary world. The challenge is to present works of art in a limited space and in direct contact with the public, where the Vetrina becomes an integral part of the artwork itself, rather than just a place for exhibiting goods.

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Water Dream Memory

WATER DREAM MEMORY  

Sara Bonaventura and Lukas Taido
curated by Eriberto Eulisse
UNESCO Office in Venice, Palazzo Zorzi 132, Venice
May 1st – June 28th, 2026

Opening April 30th, 6pm

In the heart of Venice, where the fluid boundaries between history and the future constantly dissolve, water reasserts itself not as a mere resource, but as a profound state of the human imagination.

Opening on April 30th at 6pm at Palazzo Zorzi –  premises of the UNESCO Office in Venice – the exhibition Water Dream Memory, curated by curated by Eriberto Eulisse, approaches water as a threshold element: unstable, elusive, and negotiating the delicate space between presence and disappearance. This liminal condition mirrors our contemporary ecological crisis – fragmented, uncertain, and often unperceived.

Presented during the 61st International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia, the exhibition features works by Sara Bonaventura and Lukas Taido selected by the Global Network of Water Museums (WAMU+NET), which is a Flagship Initiative of UNESCO-IHP (Intergovernmental Hydrological Programme). The show as part of the S+T+ARTS project Aqua Motion, moves beyond purely technical narratives to foster a human-centered approach to environmental change.

The artists translate scientific data into visceral imagery and spatial tensions, allowing water – whether present, absent, or remembered – to emerge as a critical and sensitive force. Through this aesthetic inquiry, the exhibition promotes a ‘new culture of water’, reconnecting communities with water as a shared heritage and a collective responsibility.

Escrewing traditional narratives of catastrophe, Water Dream Memory creates immersive ‘zones of attention’. It invites viewers to slow down and engage with water not as a ‘neutral resource’ but as a ‘living matter’ shaped by time, circulation, and care – echoing the philosophical truth that water is not just a substance, but the very fluid through which we perceive our world.

Nowruz

Nowruz
Images, Sounds and Voices from Contemporary Iran
March 20 – November 22, 2026
Bea Vita, Fondamenta delle Capuzine 3082, Venice
Chapter I – Opening March 20, 6pm

This exhibition project was born from the encounter between Yasra Pouyeshman and Mara Sartore, developed through a dialogue around a show dedicated to contemporary Iranian artists, originally conceived for the space of KOOCH in Venice.

With the worsening political and social situation in Iran and the outbreak of uprisings, the realisation of the exhibition gradually became impossible, risking cancellation or indefinite postponement. Faced with this forced suspension, Mara Sartore invited Yasra Pouyeshman to merge the project into the exhibition programme of Bea Vita, transforming interruption into an opportunity for continuity.

Bea Vita thus hosts the first chapter of a project conceived as an open, evolving organism, capable of adapting to an unstable and fragmented temporality. An initial selection of works – necessarily limited to those already stored in KOOCH’s warehouse, as communications with Iran are currently interrupted and artists are unable to ship new works – initiates a path that will unfold over time through subsequent chapters.

The decision to proceed in chapters responds not only to practical necessity but defines a precise curatorial position. The exhibition embraces partiality, incompleteness, and suspension as conditions of the present, transforming them into an open narrative structure capable of welcoming new artists and new works as political, logistical, and relational conditions allow. Through its own narrative, the project also acknowledges those artists and works that cannot be physically present. Absence thus becomes presence.

The first chapter brings together works by Reihane Raei, Siroo, Afsoongar, Mahboobeh Yazdani, Ehsan Shayegh, Farnaz Aboutalebi, and Aynaz – artists who, despite the diversity of their languages, share a common tension between memory, identity, and transformation. The project’s visual identity and exhibition poster are designed by Babak Safari, whose research bridges traditional Iranian art and contemporary design, transforming the graphic device into a space of cultural resonance.

My Art Guide Milan 2026

My Art Guides returns to Milan with the 2026 edition of My Art Guide Milan.

In April, Milan hosts the 30th edition of miart, taking place from April 17 to 19, 2026. Titled “New Directions”, the fair embraces a transformation that runs through every aspect of its identity – from curatorial content and dialogue with galleries to its visual language and the visitor experience.

The following week, Salone del Mobile.Milano will continue to animate the city from April 21 to 26 2026, opening the doors of Rho Fiera as a space for experimentation and cross-pollination: a meeting point and a platform for new opportunities to reflect on contemporary design and project culture.

My Art Guide Milan 2026 brings these two iconic Milanese events together in one pocket guide, also available as an interactive map on the My Art Guide Global App.

My Art Guide Milan 2026 will provide a comprehensive overview of the best exhibitions, events, leading galleries, and unmissable art spaces throughout Milan, complemented by a curated selection of must-see events.

Each edition is curated to offer a carefully selected overview of Art and Design Week, guided by leading voices from the field.

The 2026 editorial committee includes:

Art section:
Bruno Bolfo – Founder of Particle, Co-founder of ICA Milano, and Co-founder and Vice President of HEK (Haus der Elektronischen Künste)
Caroline Corbetta – Art curator and journalist
Alessia Glaviano – Head of Global PhotoVogue and Director of PhotoVogue

Design section:
NM3.XYZ (Delfino Sisto Legnani – Chief Communications Officer, Nicolò Ornaghi – Chief Executive Officer, Francesco Zorzi – Chief Creative Officer)

Alongside exhibitions and fairs, My Art Guide Milan also highlights the city’s best places to pause between art and design visits.

This leisure selection will be curated by:
Marta Matilde Favilli – owner of L’altro Tramezzino and Porta Romana
Maurizio Tentella – food curator and founder of Spacedelicious, Bar Paradiso and Pizza Stella

Pavilion of Chile

Pavilion of Chile
61st International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia

“Inter-Reality”
Commissioner: Florencia Loewenthal
Curators: Marisa Caichiolo, Dermis León
Exhibitor: Norton Maza
General Coordinator: Claudia Pertuzé Concha
Technical Producer: Matías Ulibarry, Magdalena Lizarraga

Organisation: A joint initiative of the Ministry of Culture, Arts and Heritage and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Government of Chile.

Venue: Arsenale, Venice
May 9 – November 22, 2026
Preview days: 6, 7, 8 May
Opening Ceremony: May 6, 4:45pm

 

“The more globalized we are, the higher the walls grow, and to cross them one must become objects, disguise oneself as electrodomestics to reach the destination; it’s as if one renounces the condition of being alive in order to have value. That is the Inter-Reality of today.”

Norton Maza

 

“Inter-Reality”, a new immersive and multisensory installation by Chilean artist Norton Maza, curated by Dermis León (PhD candidate) and Marisa Caichiolo (PhD), has been selected to represent Chile at the 61st International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia.

The installation consists of a large architectural structure set upon a rock, penetrated by an electrical pole with gold-covered generators and crowned by a Harris’ hawk (peuco in Chile). The interior—accessible through four small peepholes—reveals animated dioramas of classical landscapes accompanied by movement and sound. Surrounding elements, including a human figure, a boarding ladder, and a pilot’s helmet, guide the viewer toward alternative viewpoints of the central structure. Together, these components act as symbolic thresholds that prompt reflection on memory, civic responsibility, and the interrelation between power, truth, and freedom.

Conceived as a shared spatial environment rather than a single sculptural object, “Inter-Reality” proposes a slower rhythm of perception and an expanded sense of time, moving beyond binary oppositions and enabling a layered, immersive experience. Through a large-scale architectural framework and a constellation of visual and auditory elements, the artwork invites visitors to navigate shifting viewpoints. 

Chile’s participation in the 61st International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia is the result of the inter-institutional collaboration between the Ministry of Cultures, Arts and Heritage, through its Executive Secretariat for Visual Arts, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, via the Division of Cultures, Arts, Heritage and Public Diplomacy (DIRAC), together with the Embassy of Chile in Italy.

Charlotte Colbert:
Possible Landscapes

Curated by Yasmine Helou
Organised by Chiara Bordin

Presented during La Biennale di Venezia
6 May – 30 September 2026
Palazzo Corner della Ca’ Granda & Aman Venice

Opening cocktail
Tuesday 5 May, 6pm (by invitation)
Palazzo Corner della Ca’ Granda, Venice

 

“Il faut cultiver notre jardin”
Voltaire

Charlotte Colbert brings her latest installation, “Possible Landscapes”, to the Venice Biennale Arte 2026. This promises to be a visionary journey through dream and imagination presenting surrealist sculptures that blur the boundaries between reality, fiction, and symbolism. Curated by Yasmine Helou, the exhibition unfolds along the Grand Canal, beginning with a monumental sculpture installed in the garden of Palazzo Corner della Ca’ Granda. This initial work conceptually extends to four additional installations situated in the manicured gardens of Aman Venice at Palazzo Papadopoli, together forming an expanded, almost mystical garden dispersed along the canal.

The British-French artist and filmmaker will engage with the city, unfolding in what will appear to be startling installations suspended between dream and imagination, substance and symbolism, fiction and reality. This project conceived specifically for Venice, is the tangible results of Charlotte Colbert’s spirited approach to life and positive exuberance. Richly adorned in meaningful gestures, “Possible Landscapes” is a mystical lend of Nature’s appreciation, beliefs and spiritual awakening, bringing the audience back to familiar references while pushing the boundaries of the multiple ways of perceiving reality in a context built by contrasts – a reflection of Venice itself – the epitome of the contemporary paradox.

The exhibition brings together works in stainless steel, each conceived as a distinct threshold between the visible and the imagined. At Palazzo Corner della Ca’ Granda, the titular sculpture Possible Landscapes anchors the show: a monumental arch surmounted by a single eye – symbol of consciousness, vision and creative potential – that stands as a portal between inner and outer worlds, inviting the viewer to cross into new imaginative territories. Celebrated musician BIRDY devised a lyrical soundscape in collaboration with Colbert to be played within the space for the opening event.

In the gardens of Aman Venice, Where Angels Live – a polished steel tree adorned with votive-like forms, relics, milagros, and amulets – evokes the healing power of belief and the sacred mystery of natural forms, drawing on Colbert’s own journeys through Mexico and along the Camino de Santiago. Supernatural Tendencies reinterprets the fairy-tale wishing well as a site of intention, projection, and desire: cast in reflective metal, the sculpture mirrors both its surroundings and the viewer. Finally, There is Light Somewhere – a sculptural lantern accompanied by a series of hanging pendants dispersed throughout the garden – extends the work into the landscape, creating an immersive environment.

On the occasion of Possible Landscapes, Count Giberto Arrivabene Valenti Gonzaga invites Charlotte Colbert to curate and intervene on the window of his boutique in Venice on Rialto Bridge n2, where a selection of her sculptures will be installed in conversation with his designs. The display window will be visible starting from the opening week and will remain on view for one month.

Venice Gallery Weekend

VENICE GALLERY WEEKEND 2026
March 27, 28, and 29, 2026
Cocktail Venice Gallery View (by invitation only)
Saturday, March 28, Spazio Berlendis

The Venetian art galleries of the Venice Galleries View association are pleased to announce, following last year’s success, the Venice Gallery Weekend, taking place on March 27, 28, and 29, 2026. For three days, galleries and project rooms will open their doors to the public in a city-wide programme of exhibitions, talks, openings, and guided tours.

The initiative continues with the aim of strengthening the dialogue between Venice’s art system and local and international visitors, highlighting the richness and diversity of the city’s artistic landscape. Today more than ever, the art market proves to be dynamic and constantly evolving, shaped also by ongoing political changes. Within this rapidly shifting context, new energies and visions emerge, while many organisations choose to redefine their presence, exploring different territories and alternative modes of existence. Venice, while welcoming impulses for renewal, chooses to resist excessive acceleration, proposing slower rhythms and community-based projects that reinforce a coherent cultural map.

The Venice Gallery Weekend route will unfold across several districts (sestieri) of the lagoon city, offering the opportunity to experience Venice beyond traditional museum circuits and to meet artists, curators, and gallerists.

ITINERARY BY DISTRICT

Friday, March 27: Dorsoduro – Giudecca*
Marignana Arte • Ncontemporary & Alessandro Casciaro Venezia • Patricia Low Contemporary

Saturday, March 28:  San Marco – Castello*
10 & Zero Uno • 193 Gallery • Barbati Gallery • Caterina Tognon arte contemporanea • La Galleria Dorothea van der Koelen • Galleria Michela Rizzo • Victoria Miro Venice

Sunday, March 29: San Polo – Cannaregio
Marina Bastianello Gallery • Beatrice Burati Anderson Art Space & Gallery • Tommaso Calabro • Galerie Negropontes • Ikona Venezia

*Galleria Alberta Pane, at its Dorsoduro venue, is currently undergoing renovation works and will reopen to the public at the beginning of May. On the occasion of the Venice Gallery Weekend, on Friday 27 and Saturday 28 March, a special event will be presented in Santa Croce. The exact address will be communicated upon registration.

Venice Gallery Weekend is realised in media partnership with My Art Guides, where visitors can find the location and description of each gallery, as well as special itineraries for each district via the My Art Guides Global App.

Pavilion of the Republic of Nauru

Pavilion of the Republic of Nauru
61st International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia

“AIM Inundated, Imagining Life After Land”
Commissioning authority: Ministry of National Heritage, Culture, and Tourism, Republic of Nauru
Chief curator: Khaled Ramada
Artists: Kauw Tsitsi, CPS (Khaled Ramadan, Alfredo Cramerotti), Patricia Jacomella Bonola, Tedo Rekhviashvili, Sylvia Grace Borda, Ron Laboray, Dorian Batycka, Khaled Hafez, Iv Toshain, Stefano Cagol

Venue: Spazio Castello 3683, Calle Bosello 3683, Castello – Venice
May 9 – November 22, 2026

 

The Republic di Nauru presents the project “AIM Inundated, Imagining Life After Land” at the 61st International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia, curated by Khaled Ramadan with the collaboration of Camilla Boemio and Stefano Cagol, and with works by artists Kauw Tsitsi, CPS (Khaled Ramadan, Alfredo Cramerotti), Patricia Jacomella Bonola, Tedo Rekhviashvili, Sylvia Grace Borda, Ron Laboray, Dorian Batycka, Khaled Hafez, Iv Toshain, and Stefano Cagol. Located in Spazio Castello 3683, the collective exhibition presents ecological precarity not as a distant horizon, but as an ongoing condition.

Marking Nauru’s first participation to the 61st International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia, the Pavilion positions the world’s smallest island nation as a site where the long-term consequences of global economic and political decisions have been materially lived, and thresholds have already been crossed. Once perceived as a remote or marginal territory, Nauru is reframes as both a universal warning and a crucial guide for a shared future.

Venice Winefest

Venice Winefest is not a trade fair.
It is citywide wine celebration.

Venice Winefest was born from the collaboration between Winecore and Lightbox. The organisers selected 11 venues and 21 producers: each venue hosts two producers behind the counter, presenting their wines to the public.

A day dedicated to natural wine, with an itinerary that guides you to discover the best wine bars in Venice.

Collect the stickers from each venue and end the day by celebrating from 7pm at Bea Vita. During the party, at 8pm, prizes will be awarded by draw to those who have collected all the stickers.

The event is held in memory of Luca Elettri.

 

VENICE WINECORE

Venice Winecore is not a brand. It is a scene.

An independent visual and narrative culture that tells the story of good wine through the people who make it and the places that bring it to life. We believe in wine as an expression of its territory. We believe in producers who put their hands in the soil, in venues that create culture beyond service, and in imperfection as a value. No filters. No pose. We want to tell the story of natural wine without denaturalizing it. To build real moments of encounter between those who produce, those who pour and those who drink.

To restore Venice to a living, contemporary dimension, far from the postcard and close to the people. To create events and images that do not chase trends, but build a community. Venice Winecore dreams of a city that becomes a place to move through, to inhabit and to share.
And when needed, to set alight with celebration.

Founders: Estevan Bruno – Nicola Favaro – Stéphane Grenet – Alessandro Moretti