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All the exhibitions to see in Venice in November

Venice never sleeps: Biennale Arte events and November exhibitions

 

  • Janus
    Until Sunday, November 17
    Palazzo Diedo, Fondamenta Trapolin 2386

Last days to visit the exhibition at Palazzo Diedo for free, featuring works and installations by Urs Fischer, Piero Golia, Carsten Höller, Ibrahim Mahama, Mariko Mori, Sterling Ruby, Jim Shaw, Hiroshi Sugimoto, Aya Takano, Lee Ufan and Liu Wei—reflecting on dualities and multiple perspectives, in line with the theme of Janus, the two-faced Roman god.

From November 24, Palazzo Diedo will close temporarily for restoration work, with reopening scheduled for spring 2025.

  • Scultura lingua morta
    From November 15 until March 4, 2025
    Ca’ Pesaro – International Gallery of Modern Art, Dom Pérignon Rooms, 2nd Floor

Sculpture becomes language, history, and living matter in Giorgio Andreotta Calò’s exhibition at Ca’ Pesaro. Inspired by the visions of Arturo Martini, who defined sculpture as devoid of universal life, Calò explores the potential of the medium through works recounting twenty years of artistic research and an indissoluble bond with Venice.

From the Clessidre that freeze time to the monumental Pinne Nobilis, symbols of the marine world; from the Carotaggi that reveal the city’s stratification to the Meduse series—enigmatic creatures that have always fascinated the artist—an unpublished piece, now part of the Museum’s civic collection, is juxtaposed with Arturo Martini’s Head of Medusa, creating a bridge between two generations and between sculpture and myth.

With a theme spanning identity and migration, the 2024 Biennale, curated by Adriano Pedrosa, is a reflection on cultural diversity through exhibitions and interdisciplinary projects unfolding throughout Venice.

From November 18 to 24, the Arsenale becomes a stage for experimental performances by eight international artists who showcase the limits of traditional art around the themes of identity, migration, and collective consciousness. Here is the performance program. A Biennale admission ticket is required to participate.

  • Isaac Chong Wai – Falling Reversely
    Dates: November 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, and 23 at 11:30 AM and 3:30 PM (performances take place inside the Corderie dell’Arsenale). Isaac Chong Wai explores movement as a response to structural violence, reinterpreting falls and turning them into gestures of solidarity.
  • Joshua Serafin – PEARLS
    Dates: November 19 and 20 at 4:30 PM (performances take place inside the Tese dei Soppalchi). Serafin reflects on the wounds left by colonization, evoking divine bodies free from gender conventions, in collaboration with Filipino performers.
  • La Chola Poblete – ¿Cómo se representa a un indio?
    Date: November 20 at 12:30 PM (performances take place inside the Corderie). Through rituals, songs, and symbolic gestures, Poblete and Bhajan challenge Western stereotypes of indigenous identity, inviting reflection on cultural perception.
  • Gabrielle Goliath – Elegy (2015-)
    Dates: November 21 and 22 at 2:00 PM (performances take place inside the Sale d’Armi E). Through an operatic singing performance, Goliath evokes the memory of the victims of the Ovaherero and Nama genocide, in an expression of collective mourning and historical memory.
  • WangShui & Alberto Bustamante – La Culebra
    Dates: November 21 and 22 at 4:30 PM (performances take place inside the Artiglierie). In a techno-opera weaving myth and music, La Bruja de Texcoco embodies the figure of the serpent, a symbol of knowledge and love, creating a connection between tradition and contemporary sounds.
  • Puppies Puppies (Jade Guanaro Kuriki-Olivo) – My heart is beating as I lip sync to this song
    Dates: November 23 and 24 at 11:30 AM (performances take place inside the Corderie). The performer wears a neon sculpture, honoring the victims of the Pulse in Orlando in a moment of collective remembrance and celebration.
  • Antonio Guzman & Iva Jankovic – Messengers of the Sun
    Dates: November 23 and 24 at 12:30 PM (performances take place inside the Corderie). An Afro-futurist performance combining diasporic sounds and dance, reflecting on the links between migration and cultural identity.
  • Ahmed Umar – Talitin (The Third)
    Dates: November 23 and 24 at 4:30 PM (performances take place inside the Sale d’Armi E). Umar presents a Sudanese wedding dance in a queer key, breaking conventions and claiming a new form of expression.

 

Maria Luisa Lasala presents an exhibition of precious works expressing the deep love Venetians have for the lagoon. Large paintings by Venetian painter Gino Baffo, born from the mud and flowers of the salt marshes of the Venice lagoon, engage in dialogue with copper and silver-printed photographs by Andrea Pancino. Icy dawns and silent mists, lights from distant islands and the limonium that colors the salt marsh, the caranto—the living mud that sustains the lagoon ecosystem—to create paintings that dry in the cold, and pure gold to recount affections. Baffo the painter, Pancino the photographer, and Lasala the curator have created an intense narrative of a place vital to the city and its inhabitants, which moves and binds together those who wish to live in and defend this millennial city.

Young composer and musician Riccardo Boato has created the soundtrack for the video documenting the creation of the works in the lagoon, which will be screened on Saturday, November 30, for Blue Friday 2024 organized by UNESCO-IOC.

  • The Image of the City, an exhibition by Jacopo Ascari
    Palazzo Venart, Calle Tron 1961
    Until November 30
    Admission: free by reservation
    info.venart@ldchotels.com | Tel: +39 041 523 3784

Designer and illustrator Jacopo Ascari reinterprets the architectural and urban essence of the city through Venetian art and craftsmanship. Framed by Lunardelli Venezia and enriched by mosaics from Orsoni Venezia 1888, the works celebrate Italy’s most important cities—Milan, Rome, Florence, and Venice.

  • Convivio
    Lunardelli Venezia, Calle Seconda del Cristo 2210A
    Until November 30
    Free admission

Objects and installations explore the dialogue between wood, glass, fashion, and contemporary design, highlighting Venetian craftsmanship.

 

The first institutional exhibition in Italy dedicated to the Chilean artist, a key figure of Surrealism, in a journey tracing his complex and visionary imagery through monumental paintings, totemic sculptures, and architectural projects. Between references to Le Corbusier, science fiction influences, and tributes to pre-Columbian cultures, Matta emerges as an innovator, from Street Art to ecological sensitivity.

Alessandro Cardinale and the ancient Nüshu writing system, traditionally used by Chinese women to communicate in secret. Curated by Anna Lisa Ghirardi and Marta Boscolo Marchi, the works evoke landscapes and faces that emerge and vanish depending on the visitor’s gaze, much like the words that women, restricted by society, used to share intimate experiences.

The exhibition traces the artistic journey of Federica Marangoni between glass and multimedia. The works explore the fusion of materials and technology, embodying the innovative spirit of Murano: from the mirrored floor of La Bricola to the 1980s, or in the Room of Lightness, pieces evoking memories and dreams find their place, such as the imposing work Il volo impossibile.

 

Capsule Venice is the Venetian branch of the contemporary art gallery Capsule Shanghai. It is located on the premises of the Giorgio and Armanda Marchesani Foundation in Dorsoduro, featuring a magical garden that often hosts conversations and moments of cultural exchange. The gallery presents exhibitions by international and emerging artists.

By devouring it, I learn about the world by Liao Wen
The first European solo exhibition of the Chinese artist, featuring new works that explore perception and interaction with the surrounding environment. Liao Wen investigates the relationship between cultural identity and globalization, blending traditional materials with innovative techniques.

Vista by Mevlana Lipp
The German artist presents a special project inspired by his recent visit to Venice, investigating the hybridization of the natural and artificial through painting and sculpture.

Real Time by Alessio de Girolamo
Immersive works on temporalities and perception, using innovative materials and techniques.

A Breadcrumb Trail by Luca Campestri
Narrative fragments of a nocturnal landscape inhabited by affective presences.

The Bevilacqua La Masa Foundation and Confindustria Veneto investigate the meeting points and creative interaction between art and business. Sculptures, installations, and projects recount how art dialogues with industrial production in a weave that gives life to new forms of expression.

The dreamlike visions of Angelo Accardi occupy the rooms of Palazzo Donà dalle Rose, challenging reality with images suspended between dream and myth in a world populated by enigmatic figures, where the boundary between the everyday and the unconscious dissolves into surreal atmospheres.

Artist Erwin Wurm transforms the Marciana National Library into a space for reflection and experimentation, inviting a rethink of the concept of sculpture. His installations play with space and proportions, destabilizing the viewer’s perception and proposing an alternative vision of common objects.

 

A journey into the themes of rebirth and resilience: the works of Cen Long explore the symbols of rebirth and resilience in a path that invites reflection on the profound meaning of hope and its symbols. His canvases, characterized by rigorous composition and layered coloring, portray individuals firmly facing life’s adversities, highlighting human virtues such as kindness, love, and courage.

Bilbao-based artist Lucía Vallejo Garay fuses African culture with Baroque stylistic elements in a synesthesia that captures the visitor with a multi-sensory dialogue between sculpture, glass, and scents. Murano glass and fabric vases, fabric and gold sculptures, and the scent room blend with the sounds of the Conservatory students.

  • Le Grand Bleu
    Until February 23, 2025
    Visiting hours are Monday to Saturday, from 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM, closed on Sundays and on December 24, 25, 26, and 31, as well as January 1
    Valmont Foundation – Palazzo Bonvicini, Santa Croce, Calle de l’Agnella 2161/A

A journey into marine shades with Blue Odyssey, the limited edition of Murano glass works created by artist Aristide Najean together with Didier Guillon for the Valmont Foundation. A collection exploring the blue of the sea and its forms through vases with rich, deep curves, inspired by the power and mystery of water.

An integral part of the exhibition Ulysses. We Are All Heroes—a group show with Gayle Chong Kwan, Stephanie Blake, ISAO and Didier Guillon open to the public until February 23, 2025—the project also launches a limited version of the fragrance Storie Veneziane Blu Cobalto I, available only in La Maison Valmont boutiques.

Cover photo: Arsenale by Andrea Avezzù – Courtesy La Biennale di Venezia.
Medusa by Giorgio Andreotta Calò. Urs Fischer, Omen, 2024 Photo by Massimo Pistore. Courtesy of Urs Fischer studio and Berggruen Arts & Culture, Palazzo Diedo.
Performances by: Ahmed Umar – Talitin, Lydia Ourahmane – Daniel Blumberg, Antonio Guzman & Iva Jankovic ph. Andrea Avezzù and Bárbara Sánchez-Kane ph. Marco Zorzanello – Courtesy La Biennale di Venezia.
All other images courtesy of the respective press office.

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