Fondazione Dries Van Noten presents “THE ONLY TRUE PROTEST IS BEAUTY”

One of this edition of the Venice Biennale highlights is definitely the Fondazione Dries Van Noten that opens its doors to show an exploration of beauty as a charged encounter, capable of unsettling the familiar and making space for the unexpected.

At Palazzo Pisani Moretta, craftsmanship engages emotion and material inquiry in a constellation formed through mastery, set in dialogue with the historic architecture that houses it. Works by diverse creatives converge in relation to one another, drawn together by affinity or held in productive contrast, revealing the human intensity of making. Here, creation becomes a practice of questioning, an experience of exchange, a field of possibility.

Curated by Dries Van Noten with Geert Bruloot.

WEAVING CRAFT AND CREATIVITY

Housed within the historic Palazzo Pisani Moretta, overlooking the Canal Grande, Fondazione Dries Van Noten celebrates craftsmanship as a vital language of cultural identity. Here, ideas take form through material, gesture, and the patient passage of time, as mind and hands meet in the act of creation. The Fondazione inhabits a space of transition, carrying traditions forward while continually reinventing them. Opening in April 2026, the Fondazione will bring together established voices and emerging creators alike across art, design, fashion, architecture, food, and beyond. By encouraging cross-pollination between disciplines, it sparks fresh perspectives, bridges history with the present, and connects local talent with global creativity.

The Fondazione aims to demonstrate the vital importance of craftsmanship, understood in its broadest sense as the bodily, material, and imaginative practices through which culture takes shape. As a platform for makers, artisans, and emerging talents who carry cultural identity forward, the Fondazione’s vision is rooted in the belief that creation flourishes where tradition and innovation meet, and that Venice—long a crossroads of imagination—can once again serve as a catalyst for new ideas.

Definitely one of the must see happenings if you come to the Venice Biennale!

For more information follow @fondazionedriesvannoten on IG

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