Chiara Camoni's Italian Pavilion at Venice Biennale Embraces Intimacy and Collaboration
Chiara Camoni represents Italy at the 61st Venice Biennale with 'Con te con tutto' (With You, With Everything), a pavilion curated by Cecilia Canziani. The project grows from a decade-long friendship and collaboration between artist and curator, emphasizing proximity, hospitality, and relational aesthetics over spectacle. The pavilion is divided into two spaces: a dimly lit first section where sculpture is born, and a second flooded with natural light featuring works by historic and contemporary artists including Arturo Martini, Marisa Merz, Fausto Melotti, Annamaria Ajmone, and Alba Rohrwacher. Camoni's practice, rooted in ceramics and collective workshops, challenges the monumental scale of the Italian Pavilion by foregrounding intimate gestures and the blurred boundaries between art and craft. The conversation with Alessandro Rabottini touches on the political dimension of beauty, the role of wonder in art, and the current crisis of art criticism. Camoni and Canziani also address the broader geopolitical tensions surrounding the Biennale, including the empty South African pavilion after Gabrielle Goliath's removal, the ANGA open letter calling for Israel's exclusion, and the European Commission's threat to cut funding over the reopening of the Russian Pavilion.
Key facts
- Chiara Camoni represents Italy at the 61st Venice Biennale with 'Con te con tutto'
- The pavilion is curated by Cecilia Canziani, who has collaborated with Camoni since 2010
- The project emphasizes intimacy, friendship, and relational aesthetics over spectacle
- The pavilion is divided into two spaces: a dimly lit first section and a second flooded with natural light
- The second space, titled 'Dialoghi', includes works by Arturo Martini, Marisa Merz, Fausto Melotti, Annamaria Ajmone, and Alba Rohrwacher
- Camoni's practice focuses on ceramics, drawing, plant printing, and collaborative workshops
- The conversation addresses the political dimension of beauty and wonder in art
- The Biennale is marked by geopolitical tensions: empty South African pavilion, ANGA open letter, and EU funding threats over Russian Pavilion reopening
Entities
Artists
- Chiara Camoni
- Cecilia Canziani
- Alessandro Rabottini
- Arturo Martini
- Marisa Merz
- Fausto Melotti
- Annamaria Ajmone
- Alba Rohrwacher
- Lucia Aspesi
- Fiammetta Griccioli
- Bettina Buck
- Lucia Leuci
- Alessandra Spranzi
- Luca Bertolo
- Franco Corradini
- Gauri Gill
- Gabrielle Goliath
- Hiba Abu Nada
- Gayton McKenzie
- Pietrangelo Buttafuoco
- Chiara Frugoni
- Carol Duncan
- Annalisa Metta
- Miguel Benasayag
- Agnes Martin
- Carla Lonzi
- Joseph Brodsky
- Marina Tsvetaeva
- Osip Mandelstam
- Primo Levi
- Dante Alighieri
- Theo Eshetu
- Paola Aringes
- Silvia Perotti
- Francesco Ventrella
- Matteo Zauli
- Esther Kinski
- Laura Tripaldi
- Alice Rohrwacher
- Koyo Kouoh
- Alessandro Giuli
- Angelo Piero Cappello
- Angelika Burtscher
- Daniele Lupo
- Valentino Catricalà
- Formafantasma
- Marta Papini
- Guglielmo Castelli
- Giulia Cenci
- Medardo Rosso
- Alberto Martini
- Luciano Fabro
- Felice Casorati
- Silvia Federici
Institutions
- Italian Pavilion
- Venice Biennale
- Galleria Nazionale di Roma
- Le Murate
- Pirelli HangarBicocca
- GAM Turin
- MAXXI L'Aquila
- Fondazione In Between Art Film
- miart
- Museo Madre
- GAMeC
- Accademia di Belle Arti L'Aquila
- ANGA (Art Not Genocide Alliance)
- European Commission
- International Criminal Court
- Chiesa di Sant'Antonin
- Artribune
- Direzione Generale Creatività Contemporanea
- Ministero della Cultura
- Nomas Foundation
- NERO
- MAD (Le Murate)
- Zegna
- ZegnArt
- Oasi Zegna
- Ifis
- Accademia di Belle Arti
- Accademia di Belle Arti di Napoli
- Les Cerises
- IUNO
- Biennale di Venezia
- Padiglione Italia
- Padiglione Russia
- Padiglione Israele
- Giardini
- Arsenale
- Fondazione Biennale di Venezia
- La Repubblica
- Scuola Nazionale Patrimonio Attività Culturali
- Anfass
- Fondazione Amplifon
- Lungomare
- Italian Ministry of Culture
- Italy Pavilion
- La Biennale di Venezia
- Galleria Civica d'Arte Moderna e Contemporanea di Torino
- ZEGNA
- Banca Ifis
- Collezione da Tiffany
- Ministero della Cultura (Italian Ministry of Culture)
- Accademia di Belle Arti di Venezia
- Accademia di Belle Arti di Roma
- NERO Editions
- RAW Material Company
Locations
- Venice
- Italy
- Rome
- Florence
- Milan
- Turin
- L'Aquila
- Apuan Alps
- South Africa
- Russia
- Israel
- Palestine
- Venezia
- Pistoia
- Napoli
- Italia
- Arsenale
- Tese delle Vergini
- Piacenza
- Switzerland
- Cameroon
- Alpi Apuane
- Venezia (Venice), Italy
- Roma (Rome), Italy
- Dakar, Senegal