The Venezia da Vivere guide to events in Venice: art, music, open museums, and new places to meet
Inaugurations of new spaces dedicated to contemporary art, Christmas markets, shows, concerts in theaters and churches, museums open in the evening: here is the second part of our guide on what to do and see in December in Venice.
The must-sees: the exhibition Memory of Hope at Ca’ Giustinian, the headquarters of the Biennale in San Marco, a large textile work that transforms the Sala delle Colonne with different threads, materials, and traditions; the MANOS exhibition by the Spiazzi association, a two-day event of design, craftsmanship, cuisine, and art that brings together the most interesting creative people from Venice and its surroundings every year, and a visit to the Vegetable Garden of the Redentore on Giudecca, which we describe here.
Also not to be missed are two very rich exhibitions in Venice and Murano, as they offer a unique look at collections of extraordinary objects and the evolution of taste and technique in artistic and artisanal products over time: A Cabinet of Wonders at the Museo di Palazzo Grimani and the Carlo and Giovanni Moretti Donation 1958-2013 at the Glass Museum in Murano.
During the holidays, Palazzo Ducale and the Museo Correr are open until late every Friday and Saturday, offering the opportunity to visit temporary exhibitions as well. Sunday, December 15, with Musei in Festa, residents of the 44 metropolitan municipalities will be able to access the museums free of charge.
Music finds its place in historic churches with organ concerts, part of the Callido Nacchini Festival. The Teatrino di Palazzo Grassi offers meetings and workshops dedicated to reading and dance.
Events and Exhibitions
- On and Beyond
from December 14 to March 1, 2025
Alberta Pane Gallery, Dorsoduro 2403H, Calle dei Guardiani
The multiple facets of sculpture in contemporary art between complexity and connections, through the works of Christian Fogarolli, Luciana Lamothe, Marie Lelouche, Fritz Panzer, Michelangelo Penso and Esther Stocker.
- A Cabinet of Wonders. A Celebration of Art in Nature
The George Loudon Collection
from December 15 to May 11, 2025
Palazzo Grimani, Rugagiuffa 4858
Email drm-ven.grimani@cultura.gov.it
Set in the hyper-decorated rooms of the noble floor, the exhibition displays the collection of George Loudon, a collector and expert in 19th-century natural science objects, presented for the first time as art objects in a way that integrates and dialogues with the home of one of history’s greatest collectors, the patriarch Giovanni Grimani. A fascinating journey into the world of two passionate collectors, thanks to whom we can today see flowers, sea creatures, anatomical parts created for educational purposes, naturalia et mirabilia, become objects of rare beauty, displayed as in a Wunderkammer, alongside Greek and Roman statues and all the unique objects collected during Grimani’s extraordinary life.
- Stories of factories. Stories of families
Carlo and Giovanni Moretti Donation 1958-2013
Glass Museum, Murano
Until June 30, 2025
At the Murano Glass Museum, 453 works from the Carlo Moretti company are an important testimony to the evolution of glass design from 1958 to 2013. Until June 30, 2025, the exhibition traces the history of the company founded by brothers Carlo and Giovanni Moretti, celebrating their innovative production of objects with essential lines and highlighting the stylistic evolution of the company and glassmaking technique, from the first colored glasses of the 1960s to the Monolite sculptures of the 1990s, up to the glass paste works of the 2000s.
- Free Books Day
Monday, December 16 from 1 PM to 3 PM
Giorgio Cini Foundation, San Giorgio Maggiore island
Book on Eventbrite
Fill a bag with books at the Giorgio Cini Foundation. From essays to monographs, catalogs, and magazines, you can take home titles made available from the Foundation’s book heritage.
With a symbolic donation of €10, you receive a tote bag to fill with your favorite books. Cini Ambassadors will have early access and will receive the bag for free.
- Capacity Building. Minimal dialogues on art systems
Monday, December 16, from 2:30 PM to 6:30 PM
Palazzetto Tito, Dorsoduro 2826
Free admission while seats last
Email info@bevilacqualamasa.it
How to design, plan, and manage commissions and productions in response to the social and cultural transformations of our time, with a conference part of the European project Creart, dedicated to emerging artists and professionals working in the world of contemporary art between curatorship and the market.
Six presentations dedicated to the art system to explore themes ranging from the passion for collecting and the intensity of artistic and critical practice, to legislative and economic dynamics.
– Luca Bertolo, artist, presented by Mattia Solari The child’s mustache. Writings on art and artists , 2018
– Davide Dal Sasso, aesthetics researcher, presented by Fabio Roncato In the sign of the essential. Art after conceptualism , 2020
– Novelio Furin, lawyer, presented by Stefano Coletto The work of art in court; edited by Alessandra Donati and Novelio Furin, 2023
– Giorgio Fasol, collector, presented by Sabrina Comin, Maria Rosa Sossai, Anna and Giorgio Fasol A life as collectors, 2024
– Alessia Zorloni, art advisor, presented by Erica Villa The art market. A practical guide for financial advisors and private bankers , 2021
– Irene Calderoni, curator, presented by Edoardo Lazzari Shifting views on Italian art, edited by Irene Calderoni and Lucrezia Calabrò Visconti, 2021
- Madonna and Child, Saint John the Baptist and six female saints
from Wednesday, December 18
Picture Gallery of the Museo Correr, Piazza San Marco 52
A painting re-emerged from the deposits of the Museo Correr rewrites a page of Venetian art history: a precious panel from the late fifteenth century returns to public view after a long and complex restoration and is almost identical to a painting by Andrea Mantegna kept at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, sharing its preparatory drawing, as revealed by radiographic analysis. It is therefore reasonable to believe that the two works were created together in the Mantuan atelier of Andrea Mantegna.
- MANOS
Saturday 21 and Sunday 22 December, from 11 AM to 8 PM
Spiazzi, Calle del Pestrin 3865
Email manos.spiazzi@gmail.com
The event dedicated to experimentation in craftsmanship, design, art, and gastronomy organized by the Spiazzi cultural association returns, a showcase of self-productions and a meeting of creatives.
Curated by Gaetano Di Gregorio, Ornella Cardillo and Simone Carraro, with graphics by Massimiliano Vitti, Manos is a manifesto and space for reflection that encourages the exchange of ideas and practices between producers and the public through the direct sharing of knowledge and techniques
The event encourages conscious consumption choices, valuing the role of artistic and artisanal activity as a fundamental element of society, and promotes the convivio: once again this year, one of the protagonists of Manos is the cooking and community collective Tocìa Venezia with contemporary culinary research proposals.
- Memory of Hope
until February 10, 2025
Ca’ Giustinian, San Marco, Calle del Ridotto 1359
La Biennale di Venezia hosts in the Sala delle Colonne of Ca’ Giustinian the exhibition by Gulnur Mukazhanova – a Kazakh artist residing in Berlin – curated by Luigia Lonardelli.
Wool, silk, and ancient fabrics are intertwined in a large site-specific work of textile art and Eastern tradition, evoking fragility and tension. The artist’s creations combine materials and decorative motifs from distant cultures, transforming contrasts into a visual balance that tells the story of the link between past and present.
The exhibition is part of the Special Project È il vento che fa il cielo of the Historical Archive of the Biennale, a journey dedicated to Marco Polo in the year of his celebrations.
- DOPPIA V
until March 30, 2025
Gallery of the Wilmotte Foundation, Cannaregio 3560, Fondamenta dell’Abbazia
Eleven unpublished objects, born from the dialogue between materials and Venice, Verona, and contemporary design, are interpreted by the master craftsmen of the Fornace Simone Cenedese and the Officina Fratelli Zanon, in collaboration with Elle Arte. The exhibition celebrates the relationship between design and manual skill and the relationship between the designer and the master craftsman, who knows how to grasp and interpret every small detail of the drawings by architect Jean-Michel Wilmotte.
- Where Silence Dwells
until February 10, 2025
Linli Art Space, Fondamenta Zattere ai Saloni 65
Curated by Claudia Cappello, the exhibition of works by Chen Yuxing and Liu Xuanzhu explores the subtle dialogue between two deeply intertwined pictorial languages.
Chen Yuxing proposes paintings in which leaves become a metaphor for inner peace and feminine strength, going beyond traditional floral representation. Her canvases evoke a silent contemplation, in which the individual rediscovers themselves as part of a natural and harmonious balance.
Liu Xuanzhu, a master of portraiture, presents portraits in which Chen herself is the protagonist. Through a play of perspectives and gazes, he investigates the tension between formal control and spontaneity, revealing a subjectivity that dialogues with the surrounding world.
Christmas in San Marco
The Civic Museums celebrate Christmas, Boxing Day, and New Year’s Day with extraordinary evening openings: Palazzo Ducale and Museo Correr will remain open until 9 PM every Friday and Saturday until January 6.
The Giancarlo Ligabue Museum of Natural History welcomes visitors on January 1st starting from 10 AM. At the Centro Culturale Candiani in Mestre, Matisse and the Light of the Mediterranean continues, while Ca’ Pesaro presents exhibitions on Roberto Matta and Giorgio Andreotta Calò.
In Burano, the Lace Museum hosts Fragile Stories by Mandy Bonnell and Déirdre Kelly; Ca’ Rezzonico – Museum of the Venetian Eighteenth Century, open also on December 24 and 31, welcomes the exhibition A Discreet Passion – The Paolo Galli Collection, Palazzo Mocenigo exhibits the Elda Cecchele Donation, and the Fortuny Museum extends Selva by Eva Jospin until January 13.
Sunday, December 15, with Musei in Festa, residents of the 44 metropolitan municipalities will be able to access the museums free of charge.
December at The Home of The Human Safety Net
Cinema, human rights, music, and readings: in December, The Home of The Human Safety Net (Procuratie Vecchie in Piazza San Marco) organizes events that combine stories, culture, and participation, aimed at both adults and children.
- The House of Rights
Saturday, December 14, from 11 AM to 6 PM
Book on Eventbrite
To celebrate International Human Rights Day, a day of workshops and activities ranging from sustainable fashion to the history of Venice with Alberto Toso Fei.
- Values in Music – Sacra Venetiae Musica
Sunday, December 15, at 11:30 AM
Book here
Young talents from the Benedetto Marcello Conservatory explore Venetian sacred music from the 16th and 18th centuries. The vocal octet, accompanied by the harpsichord, will give voice to masterpieces by Gabrieli, Vivaldi, and Lotti.
- Born to Read – Low-voice readings for children and parents
Sunday, December 15, at 11 AM
Book here
For the little ones, a moment that transforms stories into tools for growth: readings that combine imagination and universal values, such as respect, equality, and hospitality.
- Involved! Reading Lab
Wednesday, December 18, from 5 PM to 6 PM
Christian Crocetta, IUSVE professor, presents the essay Leaving a good trace which rethinks the role of the teacher through dialogue and participation. Inspired by figures like Paulo Freire and Don Milani, the book analyzes methods that value students’ potential with an experiential and engaging approach.
- Christmas M’Art
The Venice Venice Hotel, Cannaregio 5631
A red 1990 Volvo 240 Polar Arctic parked under an ancient portico: Santa’s sleigh or a collector’s rarity? Both. This gem, once the protagonist of an epic expedition to the Arctic Circle, kicks off the third edition of Christmas M’Art.
In the Corte del Leon Bianco, the scent of fir trees and mulled wine guides visitors toward a Christmas experience among design items from Venice M’Art and The Erose, the hotel’s contemporary emporium that celebrates the holiday spirit in a place that was once the crossroads of merchants between Rialto and Cannaregio.
On Sunday, December 15, Christmas M’Art offers a Christmas brunch with live music, seasonal flavors, and a convivial atmosphere to experience Christmas among friends, family, and artisanal gifts.
- Advent in Music
until December 22
Church of Saints Gervasio and Protasio (San Trovaso), Dorsoduro 1098
Info: callidoavenezia@gmail.com
Four concerts in the evocative church of San Trovaso celebrate the Christmas period with a musical series centered on the 1765 organ built by Gaetano Callido and part of the Callido Nacchini Festival, directed by Nicolò Sari and organized by the Alessandro Marcello Association, in collaboration with the Benedetto Marcello Conservatory of Music of Venice and the project Cantantibus Organis.
Sunday, December 15, in collaboration with the Benedetto Marcello Conservatory, Ismaele Gatti and Miron Konjevič will perform organ transcriptions of Corelli and Vivaldi, closing on December 22 with Luca Gorla and Alberto Casarin.
Before each concert, young people from the Guggenheim Art High School tell the story of the works kept in the church, enhancing the artistic heritage of San Trovaso.
Convivio: where to stop
Venezia da Vivere adds to the pages dedicated to events and culture also places dedicated to conviviality, necessary for resting after encounters with art, fundamental for understanding the spirit of the city. This month we went to discover a special project by a group of young Venetians:
- Tappa Bistrot in Cannaregio.
A wine bar with a kitchen in a beautiful small square in authentic Venice. Here, Venetian cuisine is enriched with Eastern flavors, with surprising pairings and local products.
Article by Lucia Pecoraro and Laura Scarpa.
Cover photo: Make it Grow – Super lab | Palazzo Grassi – Punta della Dogana – Pinault Collection © Matteo De Fina, Venice.
Photos: Portrait of Gulnur Mukazhanova © Patricia Schichl. The Piece Of Peace (39×39 oil on panel) 2023 © Chen Yuxing. The Crape Myrtle (70x90cm oil on panel) 2024 © Liu Xuanzhu. Scuola Dalmata dei S.S. Giorgio e Trifone © Unisve. George Loudon Collection, 8 mushroom models from the late 19th century France and 20 papier-mâché botanical models 1866 – 1927 Germany. Ph. Rosamond Purcell. Tocia! and The Home of The Human Safety Net © Marta Formentello. M’Art Venice entrance © Igor Serdyukov. Tappa Bistrot – detail, ph. Laura Scarpa. The Vegetable Garden of Carlo Soffietti, view from the bell tower 2024.
