Palazzo Fortuny, in Venice, is home – from June 4th 2011, thanks to the well-oiled collaboration between theFoundation of the Civic Museums of Venice and theVervoordt Foundation – of TRA. EDGE OF BECOMING. The exhibition brings together more than 300 works, exploring the cross-connections among places, history,creative heritage and universal experience.

The exhibition circuit is arranged in such a way as to amplify as much as possible the dialogue and interaction among the works, the visitor and the magnificent rooms which were once Mariano’s dwelling and atelier: three side rooms on the second floor have been opened for the first time to host part of this exceptional exhibition. Some of the most important artists worldwide are represented in it, such as Marina Abramović, Miquel Barceló, Eduardo Chillida, Fernand Léger and Kazuo Shiraga. Some artists have even made their works especially for this show, e.g. Massimo Bartolini, Maurizio Donzelli, Jannis Kounellis, Giulio Paolini, Hiroshi Sugimoto, Kim Soo-Ja, Günther Uecker and Carl Michael von Hausswolff.

Included in the Museum circuit (full admission fee 5.00 €)

In conjunction with the 54th International Art Exhibition, the Foundation of the Civic Museums presents in Venice, in the hallway and portego on the first floor of Palazzo Mocenigo – Study Centre for the History of Textiles and Costume, which owns an interesting collection of beautiful Venetian clothes and accessories, two exhibitions of contemporary textile art: “A TEXTILE EXPERIENCE, A PASSION FOR COLOUR. Miniartextil” and “Ruth Adler Schnee”.

This summer too Fibre Art is back again at Palazzo Mocenigo for the sixth consecutive year. It is a contemporary form of expression where thread, fibre and fabric are used with an entirely new independence, which is now being updated through ever-changing structures and iconographies.

There are 54 miniatures textiles on display, selected among the 413 project finalists of the 2010 competition, which saw artists compete on the theme “A day of happiness”, loosely based on stories by Nobel Prize winner Isaac Bashevis Singer. The miniature textiles are works not exceeding 20 cm per side which were identified by an international jury.

In addition to miniature textiles, the exhibition also includes seven large-sized installations, namely: “Prayer rugs”, by Gabriella Crisci; “Celestial Knights Virgo”, by the Lithuanian artist Jūratė Kazakevičiūtė, and “Night Plains”, by the Argentine duo Toba Toba. Evocative installations by Italians competitors were Raffaele Penna’s “The Flight” and Resi Girardello’s “Danae’s Oracle”. On the other hand, the two artists Dario Zeruto and Hélène Genvrin created, instead, the sculpture-book entitled “Cascada”, consisting of 550 pages of cotton paper. Anna Paola Cibin made a large tapestry, entitled “The Journey”, inspired by the environments described in the “Million” by Marco Polo.

From June 1st to 30th the Emilio and Annabianca Vedova Foundation presents, in theMagazzino del Sale (i.e. former Salt Warehouse) and Studio Vedova in Venice, the space – restored by Renzo Piano – located on the Zattere, at the same time, two extraordinary exhibitions that develop a dialogue between them and the location where they are housed, both curated by Germano Celant: Salt of the Earth by Anselm Kiefer, one of the most important contemporary artists, who has specially created for this occasion a specific installation, and  an imposing cycle consisting of no less than 109 paintings, mostly in black and white, made between 1987 and 1988 by Emilio Vedova.