Outdoor chandeliers and a thought chamber: Must-see satellite exhibitions beyond the Venice Biennale
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Some shows are already pegged as some of the most highly anticipated art happenings of the year.
The 61st edition of the Venice Biennale will see artists from around the globe transform not just the pavilions in the Giardini and Arsenale spaces, but also everything from noble palazzi to canals around the city.
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These satellite exhibitions are vibrant and varied – and far more than just add-ons to the main show. Some are already pegged as some of the most highly anticipated art happenings of the year, and all aid in the metamorphosis of Venice in its entirety into a canvas for contemporary art.
Given the profusion of these collateral events, it’s key to have a battle plan. Here are our top picks of what to see beyond the Biennale.
From India to Venice
Head to Palazzo Barbaro, a 15th-century patrician residence in the San Marco district, to step into an esoteric world of Indian spiritual art. Pichwai is an intricate, centuries-old textile tradition once glimpsed only fleetingly behind temple idols of Shrinathji, a cherubic incarnation of Lord Krishna. The craft’s name is derived from the Sanskrit meaning literally ‘that which hangs at the back’.
Originating in 17th-century Nathdwara, Rajasthan, these large-scale painted cloths were conceived as acts of devotion, layered with symbolic detail and narrative. Pichwais depict temple rituals, seasonal cycles and sacred geographies through complex compositions.
Now, under the stewardship of cultural patron Pooja Singhal, the form is being carefully revived for a contemporary audience: her atelier, founded a decade ago, restores materials, retrains artisans and gently expands the language of the craft.
RelatedAt Palazzo Barbaro, ten large-scale works will be on show, which reinterpret the 400-year-old genre; once used to depict the haveli (townhouses arranged around courtyards) of Shrinathji and the town of Nathdwara, artworks are reimagined here through the city of Venice.
Singhal’s exhibition perpetuates Venice’s long-standing role as a meeting point between India and the West, putting a fragile but living textile heritage in the international spotlight while sustaining the master craftspeople who carry it forward.
CHIHULY: Venice 2026
Thirty years on from an ambitious project that saw the installation of glass works throughout Venice’s canals, American artist Dale Chihuly is returning to the city.
Presented by Pilchuck Glass School and Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park, CHIHULY: Venice 2026 will feature three striking new outdoor chandeliers installed along the Grand Canal, accompanied by an interpretive and archival centre housed at the Istituto Veneto di Scienze, Lettere ed Arti.
The three monumental outdoor works (ranging from nearly 5 metres to 9.5 metres in height) in palazzo gardens will all be visible from the Accademia Bridge. Look out for tendrilled towers that look like giant aquatic plants in shimmering gold and marine blue. Stop by at night to see them lit up bioluminescence-like.
Of Woman Born
Commissioned by the Kiran Nadar Museum of Art (KNMA), Kyoto Prize Laureate Nalini Malani has transformed the Magazzini del Sale along the Dorsoduro district’s Fondamenta Zattere into a continually changing "thought chamber" on women, myth, and global conflict.
The show is inspired by the Greek myth of Orestes, who murdered his mother and her lover to avenge their slaying of his father. Though pursued by the Furies for his act, he was saved from punishment by the goddess Athena.
Malani meditates on this myth and its resonance in present-day wars, where accountability is an anomaly and women continue to bear the brunt of patriarchal violence. She translates the ancient tale into 67 animations with more than 30,000 iPad drawings projected onto the walls.
The drawings and the 20-minute soundscape of women’s voices become a layered, visceral, continually shifting environment in which viewers conjure up their own stories from the layered superimpositions.
Jenny Saville a Ca’ Pesaro
Visit the International Gallery of Modern Art at Ca’ Pesaro for a landmark exhibition dedicated to British artist Jenny Saville.
The first major exhibition of Saville’s work in Venice showcases paintings tracing the artist’s career from the 1990s to the present, including many seminal works from the past few decades.
Saville’s practice is deeply rooted in the history of Italian painting, with a strong connection to the Venetian school. At Ca’ Pesaro, her monumental canvases engage with the great masters of the past, creating a dialogue between contemporary painting and the city’s artistic heritage.
The final room of the exhibition presents a previously unseen cycle of works created by the artist in homage to the city of Venice.
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