Venice during the Biennale
Venice is always a good idea. And when the Biennale is on, even more so.
GETTNG THERE
Take the water taxi from the airport.. The moment Venice comes into view from the water it hits you differently. The whole city is a sensory overload in the best way, the light, the sound of water, the energy of opening week. It was hectic and overwhelming and inspiring all at once. By the end of day one I knew I hadn’t seen nearly enough and that I’d be coming back before it closes in November.
THE GIARDINI
The Giardini ended up being my favourite part of the whole trip. There’s something about wandering between the pavilions in the gardens, not knowing what you’ll find next, that you just can’t replicate anywhere else.
LUBAINA HIMID, BRITISH PAVILION
This was the first pavilion I walked into and it set the tone for the whole trip. Lubaina Himid’s work is big, bold and all about colour. She explores what it means to belong somewhere, Britishness, immigration, navigating life far from your roots. There is contradiction and beauty sitting side by side in every piece. Twenty Six Questions was the one that stopped me in my tracks. I came out feeling genuinely moved.
THE ARSENALE
The Arsenale is a completely different experience from the Giardini. It’s vast and industrial and the scale of it makes you slow right down. These were my highlights:
INDIA PAVILION
I had been waiting for this one. Seven years since India was last represented here, and it did not disappoint. I genuinely got emotional. Five artists, five large-scale installations, all circling the same themes of home and memory. It brought back my childhood in a way I wasn’t expecting. It felt joyful and nostalgic and very personal all at once.
SAUDI PAVILION
The floor installation here is something special. Clay earth bricks laid out in patterns drawn from mosaic motifs at sites of cultural significance across the Arab world, many of which are now damaged or destroyed through conflict. It’s beautiful and heartbreaking at the same time. I kept thinking about craft and what it holds, history, identity, loss. Really stayed with me.
MOROCCO PAVILION
The Moroccan artist transforms textiles into something architectural. These huge fabric membranes fill and change the whole space around you. I found myself slowing right down in there. It felt meditative in a way that was quite unexpected.
OUT IN VENICE
Some of the best things I saw weren’t part of the main Biennale at all. Venice itself is full of exhibitions during this time and a few of them were genuinely unmissable.
“If you only do one thing, go to the Dries Foundation. I went twice.”
The DRIES FOUNDATION
This was my favourite thing in Venice, full stop. Housed in the Palazzo Pisani Moretta, the show is called The Only True Protest Is Beauty and it lives up to it completely. Fashion, fine art, ancient craft, all sitting together beautifully. It felt intimate and focused compared to the scale of the main Biennale, more like walking through someone’s extraordinary personal collection. Which is exactly what it is.
My highlights were the Comme des Garçons and Christian Lacroix pieces, Ann Carrington’s cutlery sculptures, and Kaori Kurihara’s ceramics. But honestly the whole thing was a joy. And as a jewellery designer I was delighted to find Codognato pieces in the collection, bold crosses and rings by the legendary Venetian jeweller. Finding jewellery given the same space as fine art always makes me happy.
MICHAEL ARMITAGE
I found his paintings shocking and painful and full of colour all at the same time. That combination is hard to pull off. I stood in front of several of them for a long time without really being able to explain why.
ANISH KAPOOR
Fifty years of architectural models, realised and unrealised projects. The standout for me was At the Edge of the World, a new eight-metre version in deep black pigment suspended from the ceiling. It draws you in completely. The stainless steel sculptures and the cement extrusion pieces were extraordinary too. It’s the kind of show that makes you think about scale and ambition differently.
FURTHER AFIELD
Two places I’d really recommend going out of your way for:
FONDAZIONE SANDRETTO RE REBAUDENGO
This one is on a remote island away from the crowds and it is worth every minute of the journey. There’s a brick church on site that tilts forward at an impossible angle, which alone is worth seeing. The group exhibition inside draws from Patrizia Sandretto Re Rebaudengo’s personal collection and it’s curated beautifully. The whole place is just very peaceful. I needed that by that point in the trip.
THE FORTUNY FACTORY
If you love textiles you absolutely have to go. I came out wanting to redo my entire home. Say no more.
WHAT I’M TAKING BACK TO THE STUDIO
Seeing everything as a jewellery designer means you can’t switch off that part of your brain. Wood kept coming back to me as a material. Texture was everywhere, surfaces that made you want to reach out and touch them. And the use of three-dimensionality in so many of the works has given me a lot to think about. I came home with pages of notes and a lot of ideas about how materials carry emotion, not just shape.
With love, Manpriya x
