Sixteen exhibitions outside the Venice Biennale 2025 – Procuratie Vecchie in San Marco Square – Photo by Mike Merkenschlager
Art, Architecture. The new SMAC Museum in San Marco Square, Jean Nouvel’s Cartier Foundation project presented at Fondazione Cini, Formafantasma at the iconic Carlo Scarpa’s Negozio Olivetti, and major exhibitions at Palazzo Grassi, Peggy Guggenheim Collection and Punta della Dogana. There’s a world of art and architecture beyond the Venice Biennale. We selected sixteen exhibitions taking over churches, shipyards, and palazzos.
RELATED STORIES: Read more about Venice Biennale 2025 on Archipanic.
A new museum in Piazza San Marco
SMAC San Marco Art Centre galleries – Photo by Andrea Artoni, courtesy of Generali Real Estate.
On May 9, the pioneering new arts centre SMAC, San Marco Art Centre, opens to the public in Piazza San Marco [Map] at the Procuratie Vecchie, recently restored by David Chipperfield Architects [Find out more]. SMAC will present a dynamic programme spanning visual arts, architecture, fashion, technology, and film. Its inaugural exhibitions will focus on the careers of two pioneers in their respective fields: Australian modern architect Harry Seidler and Korean landscape artist Jung Youngsun.
Design show at Carlo Scarpa’s iconic Negozio Olivetti
‘The Shape Of Things to Come’ exhibition, Formafantasma at FAI Negozio Olivetti in Venice – Courtesy of Formafantasma.
FAI Negozio Olivetti, a masterpiece of modern architecture designed by Carlo Scarpa in San Marco square, hosts The Shape of Things to Come exhibition by Formafantasma [Until September 15, Map]. The studio developed and expanded its Ore Streams project, which focused on recycling waste from the electronics industry. Through a series of design objects, documentary videos, and 3d animations, “the exhibition addresses the environmental impact of the tech sector from multiple perspectives, emphasising the role of design as a tool for transformation and awareness.”
From Venice to Paris with Jean Nouvel
Building site view of the Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain at Palais-Royal, Paris – Rendering © Jean Nouvel-ADAGP, Paris, 2024.
At the Fondazione Giorgio Cini on the island of San Giorgio [Until September 14, 2026, Map], Cartier presents an exhibition dedicated to Jean Nouvel‘s renovation of Fondation Cartier, which will open in late 2025in Paris, next to the Louvre. The exhibition unveils innovative design concepts that push the boundaries of architectural design. The renovation embodies the Fondation’s mission to engage all forms of contemporary creation, starting from architecture.
Robert Mapplethorpe and the shapes of Classic
‘Le Forme del Classico’ Robert Mapplethorpe at Le Stanze della Fotografia – Photo by Matteo Defina.
Stay on the island of San Giorgio and visit Le Stanze della Fotografia, which hosts a major retrospective of famed – and often controversial – photographer Robert Mapplethorpe [Until January 1, 2026, Map]. Curated by Denis Curtis, the exhibition is titled Le Forme del Classico – The Shapes of Classic – and brings together over 200 works, shedding light on how Mapplethorpe reinterpreted classical aesthetics to explore themes such as desire, identity, gender, and sensuality, using a cultured and visionary language. Le Forme del Classico marks the first chapter of a three-part exhibition project that will continue in 2026 with events in Milan and Rome.
Tatiana Trouvé at Palazzo Grassi
‘Tatiana Trouvé. The strange Life of Things’ at Palazzo Grassi – Photo by Marco Cappelletti and Giuseppe Miotto, Marco Cappelletti Studio, ©Palazzo Grassi, Pinault Collection.
In Venice, the Pinault Collection presents two major exhibitions at Palazzo Grassi and Punta della Dogana. Tatiana Trouvé – The Strange Life of Things is the French-Italian artist’s largest exhibition to date. The spaces at Palazzo Grassi are the starting point for creating new sculptures, large-scale drawings, and site-specific installations in dialogue with bodies of work from the past decade [Until January 4, 2026, Map].
Thomas Schutte at Punta della Dogana
‘Thomas Schütte. Genealogies’ at Punta della Dogana in Venice – Photo by Marco Cappelletti, ©Palazzo Grassi – Pinault Collection.
At the Punta della Dogana [until November 25, Map], sculptures, architectural models, photographs, drawings and engravings by multi-faceted, German artist Thomas Schütte take an unsettling and ironic look at the human condition, blending techniques and genres. Titled Genealogies, the exhibition explores the flow of motifs in the artist’s major works, from the 1970s to the present day.
Maria Helena Vieira da Silva at the Peggy Guggenheim
‘Maria Helena Vieira da Silva-Anatomy of Space’ exhibition – Courtesy of Peggy Guggenheim Collection.
The Peggy Guggenheim Collection presents Maria Helena Vieira da Silva: Anatomy of Space [Until September 15, Map]. The exhibition provides an in-depth exploration of the evolution of the visual language of Portuguese-born French artist Maria Helena Vieira da Silva [1908–1992]. With references to Portugal’s decorative tradition, as well as to Cubism and Futurism, the show explores the connection between abstraction and figuration in real and imaginary spaces.
Qatar à Palazzo
Yasmeen Lari, Community Centre, Doha, 2024 – ©Qatar Museums.
At ACP-Palazzo Franchetti, Qatar’s Beyti Beytak–My home is your home exhibition explores how hospitality and traditions of welcome are embodied in the contemporary architecture and landscapes throughout the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia (MENASA). Paying tribute to pioneering architects and thinkers, the showcase features works by more than 20 modern and contemporary architects from the MENASA region. The exhibition complements Qatar’s participation in the Venice Biennale, which also includes an inaugural permanent pavilion at Giardini. [May 10, November 23, Map]
Art in dialogue with a Carlo Scarpa’s masterpiece
‘Architectural Landscapes’ exhibition at Galerie Negropontes in Venice – Photo by Gabriele Bortoluzzi.
Galerie Negropontes, in partnership with Heritage Asset Management, presents Architectural Landscapes, an exhibition featuring the works of Gianluca Pacchioni, Pinton, and Perrin & Perrin in a compelling dialogue with the iconic spaces of the Palazzina Masieri, Carlo Scarpa’s masterpiece. Art and architecture converge, weaving a narrative of form, materiality, and continuity. On the ground floor, visitors are welcomed to an imaginary garden. On the first floor, they discover architectural glass sculptures depicting urban fragments and city plots. Until November 22, Map.
Catalonia Pavilion
Water Parliaments – Courtesy of Catalonia in Venice.
Many national pavilions take over unexpected venues, private homes, and galleries in town. The Catalonia Pavilion, for example, is located in a former shipyard on the docks of San Pietro in Castello island. This year’s exhibition, Water Parliaments, explores the codependent relationships between humans and non-humans, and the water systems on which they are based, to propose hopeful future scenarios. May 10-November 23, Map.
Estonia Pavilion
‘Let me warm you’ Estonian Pavilion in Venice – image by the pavilion.
Titled Let Me Warm You, the Estonian Pavilion [May 10-November 23, Map] wraps the facade of a Venetian building with insulation panels to question whether current insulation-driven renovations are merely a compliance measure to meet European energy targets or an opportunity to enhance the spatial and social quality of mass housing districts.
A quest for planetary futures
‘The Next Earth’ exhibition by MIT Architecture and Antikythera in Venice, courtesy of Berggruen Arts & Culture centre.
At recently renovated Palazzo Diedo, MIT Architecture and Antikythera explore planetary futures with The Next Earth: Computation, Crisis, Cosmology, [May 10-November 23, Map]. On the ground floor, Antikythera think tank investigates Earth as a computational megastructure, interweaving rare historical artefacts with speculative cinematic media, artificial intelligence, and planetary simulations. On the upper floor, MIT Architecture presents forty visionary projects that interrogate climate change through design. From reshaping material supply chains to exploring energy-conscious construction. The exhibition is presented by the Berggruen Arts & Culture centre and is a collateral event of the 19th Venice Architecture Biennale.
Time Space Existence
Time Space Existence 2023, Palazzo Mora – Photo by Federico Vespignani.
From May 10 to November 23, the Time Space Existence platform and exhibition at Palazzo Mora [Map], Palazzo Brembo [Map] and Giardini della Marinaressa [Map] brings together international architects, designers, artists, academics, and researchers to engage with the pivotal themes of Repair, Regenerate, and Reuse. On show projects by Alejandro Aravena’s ELEMENTAL, MVRDV, Adjaye Associates, as well as Harvard graduates and Delft University of Technology students. From indigenous architectural practices to ground-breaking sustainable materials and cutting-edge innovation. Organised and hosted by the European Cultural Centre.
Hong Kong Pavilion
Courtesy of the Hong Kong Pavilion.
Located just in front of the Arsenale entrance, the Hong Kong Pavilion celebrates its unsung public infrastructures. The exhibition will reveal how the city’s often-overlooked architectural and urban achievements have for decades fulfilled the pressing mandates that cities around the world now face, like combating climate change, managing extreme density, and maintaining a cultural life for citizens in shared public spaces. May 10-November 23, Map.
Bulgaria Pavilion
©Pseudonature, Bulgaria Pavilion in Venice – Courtesy of Iassen Markov.
The Bulgarian Pavilion, Pseudonature, explores the paradoxes of Artificial Intelligence and sustainability with technological and climate paradoxes. It features a snow-making machine producing artificial snowfall that buries the solar panels that power it. Snow accumulates, halting the production until it melts. The project invites visitors to rethink their relationship with the natural world and consider the unintended consequences of technological progress. May 10-November 23, Map.
A church for art, architecture and DJ sets
‘Otras Montañas’ exhibiton by Nadia Huggins and Tessa Mars at Ocean Space – Photo by Jacopo Salvi.
How can art, sound, architecture, and community come together to imagine new futures for our oceans and planet? At San Lorenzo church [Map], Ocean Space proposes a multidisciplinary programme featuring over 20 international artists and creators. The exhibition otras montañas, las que andan sueltas bajo el agua [other mountains, adrift beneath the waves], by Tessa Mars, Nadia Huggins is complemented with performances, talks, listening sessions, and gatherings—free and open to the public—inviting audiences to reimagine the Ocean as a site of creativity, resistance, and collective transformation.
On May 10 from 8 to 11 p.m., Ocean Space will make some noise with performances and DJ sets among cave sound environments, acoustic architectures, and Afro-diasporic resonances that experiment with improvisation as a ritual and political gesture.
DJ Set at Ocean Space. – Photo by Hydar Dewachi.
