Dayanita Singh's ARCHIVIO Opens the Archivio di Stato in Venice to the Public
From April 17 to July 31, 2026, Dayanita Singh showcased ARCHIVIO at the Archivio di Stato in Venice, utilizing a typically restricted storage area. The exhibition displayed her black-and-white images of Italian archives on fifteen independent wooden structures. Singh engaged in a "friendship economy," collaborating with students from Ca' Foscari University, who served as docents in exchange for mentorship. The opening coincided with a literature festival, granting public access to the archive for the first time. Singh's project can be traced back to her 2002 residency at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, where she received encouragement from Pieranna Cavalchini. About a year and a half ago, the archive's director invited her to present the exhibition. Aruna D'Souza reviewed it in The New York Times.
Key facts
- ARCHIVIO was on view at the Archivio di Stato, Venice, from April 17 to July 31, 2026.
- Dayanita Singh arranged her black-and-white photographs on fifteen four-sided, freestanding, collapsible wooden structures.
- The exhibition took place in a double-height storage room normally closed to the public, which was opened for the first time.
- Singh avoided Venice Biennale costs, estimated at 150,000 euros, by relying on a "friendship economy."
- Students from Ca' Foscari University served as docents in exchange for Singh's mentorship.
- Singh made exhibition copies to address photography's sensitivity to light and temperature.
- The show opened with a literature festival rather than the Venice Biennale.
- Singh's archive of twenty-five years of images made in Italy was organized by cities including Palermo and Naples.
- Aruna D'Souza reviewed the exhibition in The New York Times.
- Installation photographs were by Luca Girardini.
Entities
Artists
- Dayanita Singh
- Sarah Meister
- Pieranna Cavalchini
- Fausto Calderai
- Barbara Bianchini
- Luigi Vigevani
- Massimo Warglien
- Andrea Anastasio
- Aruna D'Souza
- Oriol Vilanova
- Luca Girardini
Institutions
- Archivio di Stato
- Venice Biennale
- Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum
- Corsini Archive
- Hamburger Bahnhof
- Ca' Foscari University
- IBM
- Museum of Modern Art (MoMA)
- Aperture
- The New York Times
- Spanish Pavilion
- State Archives of Venice
- Hyperallergic
- Carnegie International
- Museo Nazionale Etrusco di Villa Giulia
- Museo d'Arte Orientale
- Istituto Italiano di Cultura
- Archivio di Stato di Venezia
- Biennale d'Arte 2026
- MAO-Museo d'Arte Orientale di Torino
- Istituto Italiano di Cultura di New Delhi
- Università Ca' Foscari Venezia
- Università Iuav di Venezia
- Studio Sonnoli
- Artribune
- MAO di Torino
- Università Ca' Foscari
Locations
- Venice
- Italy
- Boston
- United States
- Florence
- India
- Milan
- Palermo
- Naples
- Rome
- Texas
- New York
- Campo dei Frari
- San Polo
- New York City
- Turin
- New Delhi
- Venezia
- Roma
- Torino