Venice is often called a city-museum, and it’s easy to see why. Its canals and squares feel like exhibition halls, and its walls like picture rails. Yet the lagoon is very much alive, and Venice is far from frozen in time. When the immensely wealthy Peggy Guggenheim opened the doors of her palace on the Grand Canal to the public in 1951, could she have imagined that, one day, she would be joined by the likes of the Pinault Collection, the Fondazione Prada and many others? Not a year goes by without palaces and other old stone buildings opening new spaces. Philanthropists, collectors, artists – of good or questionable taste – personalities drawn by Biennale crowds, the city’s splendor or simple imitation, many have chosen to acquire an address in Venice.
Starting April 25, the Palazzo Pisani Moretta will in turn open its doors. Located on the Grand Canal, near the Basilica di Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari, the building is famous for its flowery Gothic architecture. For decades, it has been rented out for birthdays and weddings, with locals long admiring the gilded stucco of its reception rooms and the frescoes by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo and Jacopo Guarana. Now, however, the Palazzo Pisani Moretta houses the Fondation Dries Van Noten, created by the Belgian fashion designer and his partner, Patrick Vangheluwe.
“It’s an entirely new life,” joked the Flemish designer during a tour of the palazzo’s three main floors and mezzanines. On this March day, the building buzzed with activity. Walls were being erected to display photographs. Lighting fixtures were being adjusted. An employee wearing a headlamp inspected a newly unpacked, exotic-fruit-looking ceramic piece by Japanese artist Kaori Kurihara to ensure it had not been damaged in transit. A boat is set to arrive at the entrance on the Grand Canal in a few hours to deliver an imposing sculpture by Belgian artist Peter Buggenhout. In total, more than 200 artworks and craft pieces from around the world were carefully selected by Van Noten.
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