Summer in Venice 4 events in the most beautiful palazzos

In this prelude to summer, Venice doesn’t just offer the 57. Biennale d’Arte; in fact, the programme of what is now dubbed Fuori Biennale includes events that are not to be missed either and take place in the most remarkable locations of the city of the lagoon.

Here’s our selection of happenings at the Fuori Biennale 2017, which blend art, architecture, and design.

In the photo: Beverly Barkat: Evocative Surfaces, Museo di Palazzo Grimani.

Palazzo Grimani hosts until November 26^thBeverly Barkat: Evocative Surfaces, a solo exhibit of the Israeli artist who created, specifically for the Renaissance rooms of the palazzo (in which have worked the foremost artists and architects of the Serenissima, like Palladio, Serlio, Sansovino, and Giorgione), a series of large PVC panels that are a triumph of vibrant colours. The result is a route that leads visitors across the ancient and the contemporary.

Beverly Barkat: Evocative Surfaces, Museo di Palazzo Grimani

The End of Utopia (on display until July 30^th) is an exhibition hosted in Palazzo Flangini and dedicated to American artists Jacob Hashimoto and Emil Lukas. Hashimoto’s installation is composed of a dense cloud of 8,500 suspended black paper-and-bamboo kites, a poetic metaphor of a starry sky.

In the photo: Jacob Hashimoto’s installation, The End of Utopia, Palazzo Flangini, courtesy of Studio la Città, Verona.

In the photo: Jacob Hashimoto’s installation, The End of Utopia, Palazzo Flangini, courtesy of Studio la Città, Verona.

Lukas surprises with Lens, a concave sculpture made up of 650 aluminium pipes forming a gigantic lens capable of generating startling visual effects.

In the photo: Lens, Emil Lukas, The End of Utopia, Palazzo Flangini, courtesy of Studio la Città, Verona.

The Prada foundation of Ca’ Corner della Regina presents The Boat Is Leaking. The Captain Lied (on display until November 26^th). The stars of this exhibition? Three living legends from Germany: the film director Alexander Kluge, the artist Thomas Demand, and the set designer Anna Viebrock.

In the photo: Anna Viebrock, Palcoscenico, 2017 - Alexander Kluge, Terror = Furcht und Schrecken (Terror = fear and horror), 2017, The Boat is Leaking. The Captain Lied, Fondazione Prada, courtesy of Fondazione Prada.

A metaphysical journey awaits the visitor in the halls of Ca’ Corner, amid photographs, stage sets, and screenings of a video that gives an account of the creative universe of the three German masters.

Thomas Demand, Konstellation, 2000 - Anna Viebrock, Porte, 2012 - Thomas Demand, Archiv, 1995, The Boat is Leaking. The Captain Lied, Fondazione Prada, courtesy of Fondazione Prada

Finally, in the Arsenale Nord, at Tese 98–99, Memory and Contemporaneity (on display until November 26^th) centres on the value of artistic and cultural memory in China. As part of this exhibition, you will be able to admire the design pieces of five Italian masters: Antonio Citterio, Stefano Giovannoni, Piero Lissoni, Italo Rota, and Michele De Lucchi have each realised a unique article of furniture inspired by Chinese decorative art using materials like wood, ceramic, and silk.

Tavolo Convivio, designed by Italo Rota, Memory and Contemporaneity, Side Event of 57. Esposizione Internazionale d’Arte - La Biennale di Venezia

Armchair, designed by Stefano Giovannoni, Memory and Contemporaneity, Side Event of 57. Esposizione Internazionale d’Arte - La Biennale di Venezia

When art calls, Venice always responds.

Opening photo: JACOB HASHIMOTO’S INSTALLATION, THE END OF UTOPIA, PALAZZO FLANGINI, COURTESY OF STUDIO LA CITTÀ, VERONA. PHOTO BY MICHELE ALBERTO SERENI