Category: Works

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

“Soundtrack for an Invisible House”
Commissioner: Martina Vovk (Moderna galerija Ljubljana)
Curator: Nataša Petrešin-Bachelez
Exhibitors: NONUMENT GROUP (Neja Tomšič, Martin Bricelj Baraga, Nika Grabar, Miloš Kosec)
Scientific Advisor: Anja Zalta

Venue: Arsenale Exhibition Spaces, Venice
May 9 – November 22, 2026
Preview days: 6, 7, 8 May
Opening Ceremony: May 6, 3:15pm

The Republic of Slovenia presents “Soundtrack for an Invisible House” at the 61st International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia, curated by Nataša Petrešin-Bachelez and developed by the Nonument Group (Neja Tomšič, Martin Bricelj Baraga, Nika Grabar, and Miloš Kosec). Installed in the Arsenale Exhibition Spaces, the project transforms a forgotten architectural trace into a resonant space for listening, reflection, and historical re-examination.

Soundtrack for an Invisible House is rooted in a little-known episode of European history: the construction in 1917 of a temporary wooden mosque by the Austro-Hungarian Army in Log pod Mangartom, near Slovenia’s northwestern border. Built to serve Bosnian Muslim soldiers fighting on the Isonzo Front during World War I, the mosque functioned as part of the empire’s military infrastructure, where religion was mobilised in the service of politics, propaganda and power. After the war, the structure disappeared, leaving behind only a handful of photographs and no visible trace in the landscape. Recently unearthed through archaeological excavations and officially registered as a heritage site in 2025, the mosque today exists as a “nonument”: a site whose meaning transformed due to political and social changes, and whose absence speaks powerfully of political, religious, and territorial histories.

The pavilion unfolds as a sound-based installation that invites visitors to slow down and listen. A platform resembling a ruin, constructed from recycled material waste from the previous Architecture Biennale, rests within an apparently empty space. From this still landscape emerges a layered sound composition of whispers, murmurs, fragments of songs, shepherds’ calls, and voices, evoking both the Alpine environment of the original site and the buried histories beneath it. The installation functions simultaneously as shelter and amplifier, transforming absence into presence through sound. Mirrored walls extend the pavilion into an infinite landscape of reflections, referencing the Arsenale’s own history as a military-industrial complex.

Through “Soundtrack for an Invisible House”, the Slovenian Pavilion offers a contemplative space that connects past and present, asking urgent questions about the entanglements of religion, power, and conflict in today’s world.

Pedro Cabrita Reis: XIV Steps

A project by Pedro Cabrita Reis
with Luca Berta and Michael Short

May 4 – November 22, 2026
Magazzino del Sale 3 – Accademia di Belle Arti di Venezia
Dorsoduro 264, 30123 Venice

Press preview and opening: May 4, 2026, 5pm

 

“My name is Pedro Cabrita Reis and I’ve always been a painter.”

Portuguese Artist Pedro Cabrita Reis, on the occasion of the 61st International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia, returns to Venice at Magazzino del Sale 3 – Accademia di Belle Arti di Venezia with a radically different gesture: “XIV Steps”, a cycle of fourteen paintings inspired by the Stations of the Cross.

With “XIV Steps” Pedro Cabrita Reis, a painter at heart, marks a significant new chapter in his practice and ongoing investigation into culture, memory, and the complexities of the human condition.

Born in 1956 in Lisbon, where he lives and works, Cabrita Reis is widely regarded as one of the leading figures of contemporary art. In “XIV Steps” the Artist engages with the dramatic narrative structure of the Stations of the Cross, a theme whose resonance extends far beyond its theological origins. As famously observed by Barnett Newman, the Stations articulate a universal reflection on suffering, endurance, and the human condition, dimensions that find renewed expression in this cycle of paintings.

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

Mexico City Art Week will take place from 1 to 8 February 2026, featuring the city’s two major art fairs — ZsONA MACO, the leading art fair in Latin America, held at Centro Citibanamex, and Material Art Fair — alongside a vibrant programme of exhibitions and cultural events across Mexico City.

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

Our local editorial committee will also share recommendations on the best places to dine, stay and explore, offering readers a complete guide to experiencing Mexico City during the art week.

This edition will also be fully featured in our new Global App, bringing the world of contemporary art to your fingertips — and offering unique opportunities to enhance your visibility and connect with our international audience.

My Art Guides’ Global App is your new compass to experience contemporary art around the globe. The app lets you explore museums, galleries, and art spaces carefully selected by local editorial committees.

The app covers major contemporary art hubs – in its first release, you will find dedicated issues on Art Basel Paris 2025 and the 19th International Architecture Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia.

Let the app guide you through exhibitions, art venues, and delightful restaurants and hotels. Save your favourite spots, create personalised lists, and keep your art map updated for your next trip.

My Art Guide Basel 2025 provides a comprehensive overview of Basel’s art scene during Art Basel, taking place from 19 to 22 June 2025.

The guide also brings together essential information for navigating the city’s art fairs, including Africa Basel, Liste Art Fair, Photo Basel, Basel Social Club, and I Never Read Art Book Fair.

Our locally based Editorial Committee includes Mohamed Almusibli, Director and Chief Curator of Kunsthalle Basel; Letizia Elia, CEO of Basel Tourism; and Marina Meijer, President of Kunsthaus Baselland. They have handpicked a selection of must-see exhibitions, major galleries, and art spaces, along with curated recommendations on where to dine, relax, and stay while exploring the city’s rich cultural landscape.

The guide is available at Art Basel, as well as in a selection of museums, foundations, galleries, art spaces, and hotels across the city. Additionally, the My Art Guide Basel app for iOS and Android, along with an online edition, will be released simultaneously.

My Art Guide Paris 2025 offers a curated overview of the city’s cultural landscape during the fourth edition of Art Basel Paris, taking place from 24 to 26 October 2025. The guide also serves as a resource for navigating key events and exhibitions across the city, highlighting major galleries, institutions, and independent art spaces.

This year’s local committee includes Philippe Charpentier, Founding Director of mor charpentier; Yvannoé Kruger, Director of Poush; and Hélène Nguyen-Ban, Founder and CEO of DOCENT.

The guide opens with an interview by with sculptor and stage director Théo Mercier, reflecting on fragility, the audience, and the city of Paris.

The guide will be distributed at Art Basel Paris, Asia NOW, Christie’s France, Offscreen, as well as in a selection of museums, foundations, galleries, art spaces, and hotels across the city.

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 was inaugurated with “Night Eyes” by Mariana Hahn and “Tarocchi” by Isabella Staino.

For Vetrina#15, Vino Vero has invited Manuela Kokanović, a Croatian artist born in 1991 in Zagreb, who lives and works in Venice. Through her artistic practice, she engages with and processes the present, analysing representations and stories of seemingly distant places and people. While painting is her primary medium, her research extends to the experimental use of different materials such as isomalt, food colouring, metal and ceramics.

For the occasion, the artist will present “The Stream” (2025), a large-scale site-specific installation accompanied by a critical text by Beatrice Timillero and created on the basis of an interdisciplinary reflection. Bringing together anthropological, geographical, and visual studies, the artist will explore the concept of flow as a movement inherent in time and global collective consciousness. The work will be presented as a flamboyant mapping of the creative process itself, considered a privileged flow in that it is dimensionless.

As Beatrice Timillero notes in her curatorial text:

“Taking inspiration from ancient maps, drawn by hand even before geography was an objective discipline, the artist deconstructs physical elements such as rivers, coastlines and mountain ranges, reasoning on two-dimensional and fundamentally unrealistic lines of colour. The stylization of this series of tangible elements, considered reliable a priori in the cartographic context, allows the artist to think about themes such as conquest and belonging, inviting viewers to reflect on the number of truths that can be formally developed on an abstract level.”

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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 was inaugurated with “Night Eyes” by Mariana Hahn.

For Vetrina#14, Vino Vero has invited Isabella Staino (Florence, 1977), a visual artist who explores the tension of the feminine, the symbolic resonance of the animal world, and the power of the dreamlike. Her work stands out for its intense and deeply personal use of colour, her painting often taking the form of narrative, in a continuous dialogue with literature, memory, and vision.

The artist unveils a new series of works on paper titled “Tarocchi – Ciò che il bruco chiama fine il maestro chiama farfalla”, inspired by a personal tarot reading. For many years, due to a progressive loss of eye-sight, Isabella Staino has been painting with the aid of video magnifiers – devices normally used for reading, which she has adapted for her artistic practice. This tool enables her to alternate between a broader view and a focus on details, creating a richly layered pictorial language, where her visual limitation is transformed into a perceptual and narrative experience. The resulting pieces were conceived and created specifically for Vetrina.

My Art Guide Venice 2025 is your compass in the lagoon during the 19th International Architecture Exhibition, featuring a comprehensive list of National Participations and Official Collateral Events, as well as a curated selection of the best exhibitions and art spaces around the city. Additionally, in the leisure section, you will find a list of unmissable hotels, restaurants, and bars where you can unwind in style.

“Your Compass in Venice 2025” highlights key venues, exhibitions and events in Venice, sestiere by sestiere. Paired with maps, it offers a visual guide to help you navigate the city.

The guide opens with an interview by Manuel Orazi with Carlo Ratti, the curator of “Intelligens. Natural. Artificial. Collective.”, the 19th International Architecture Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia.

The digital issue of the guide is now available on the My Art Guides website and app. You can also pick up a printed copy at selected National Pavilions, Collateral Events, museums, foundations, galleries, art spaces, design venues, and hotels across the city.