Eventi Archives - Fondazione Giorgio Cini

A Guest at the Palace | Minerva Infuses the Soul into the Human Figure Modeled in Clay by Prometheus by Pompeo Batoni

On the occasion of the opening season of the Galleria di Palazzo Cini at San Vio, the new “guest at the Palace” is the picture Minerva Infuses the Soul into the Human Figure Modeled in Clay by Prometheus by Pompeo Girolamo Batoni (Lucca, 1708 – Rome, 1787), dating from between 1740 and 1743. The work, which explores the theme of the genesis of life through a subject never before treated in painting, was conceived starting from the classical iconography of a group of Roman sarcophagi depicting the myth of Prometheus. It is the work of one of the most celebrated artists of eighteenth-century Italy, of whom only rare examples exist in Venice, and represents an important testament to Batoni’s passion for mythological subjects, as well as a remarkable achievement of his early maturity.

The exhibition, organized by the Giorgio Cini Foundation’s Institute of Art History, the Cassa di Risparmio di Lucca Foundation, and the Lucca Center for the Arts Foundation, also serves as an opportunity to announce the creation of the future museum space at the Lucca Center for the Arts —a collaboration between the Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Lucca and the Fondazione Centro Studi sull’Arte Licia e Carlo Ludovico Ragghianti—where Batoni’s painting will be on display starting in 2029.

Minerva Infuses the Soul into the Human Figure Modeled in Clay by Prometheus

The magnificent painting by Pompeo Batoni, one of the most celebrated artists of the Italian Settecento, stands as a significant testament to his fascination with mythological subjects, as well as a remarkable achievement of his early maturity. Addressing the theme of the genesis of life through a subject never before treated in painting, the work draws upon the classical iconography of a group of Roman sarcophagi depicting the myth of Prometheus.

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The subject of the picture derives from Metamorphoses (I, 76–88) and, together with the canvas Atalanta Mourning the Death of Meleager, now in the same foundation, was executed for the Marquis Lodovico Sardini during the period in which the artist divided his time between Rome and his native city, to which he remained profoundly attached throughout his life.

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The Titan Prometheus is depicted in the act of bringing to completion his greatest creation: a young man modelled from clay, embodying the classical ideal of beauty and in all likelihood inspired by the celebrated Hermes Pio-Clementino, then known as the Antinous Belvedere. Beside him, the goddess Minerva—derived from the Minerva Giustiniani and softened according to the canon of grace—advances to breathe life into the figure, offering him a butterfly, the traditional emblem of the soul.

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The canvas bears witness to the extraordinary level of refinement achieved by Batoni during the first half of the 1740s. Hailed as a “new Raphael,” he worked for some of the most eminent figures of his age, from Popes Benedict XIV, Clement XIII and Pius VI to Maria Theresa, Frederick II of Prussia and Catherine II. He was especially renowned for his religious, mythological and historical compositions, as well as for his portraits, many of which were commissioned by wealthy travellers passing through Rome on the Grand Tour.

Opening hours and admission

It is open every day (except Wednesdays) from 11:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.

All editions

May 24 – July 21, 2014

Portrait of a Young Man with a Lute by Agnolo Bronzino

September 5 – November 2, 2014

Adoration of the Shepherds by Lorenzo Lotto

June 17 – September 28, 2015

The Madonna of Pontassieve by Beato Angelico

September 19 – November 15, 2015

Capriccio with a Small Square by Francesco Guardi

April 8 – June 6, 2016

Saint Mark by Andrea Mantegna

May 28 – November 1, 2021

Saint George and the Dragon by Paolo Uccello

July 15 – October 15, 2023

Warsaw, Church of the Holy Cross by Bernardo Bellotto

May 11 – July 16, 2023

Cleopatra by Artemisia Gentileschi

May 14 – September 8, 2025

The Crucified Christ by Antoon van Dyck

June 18 — September 27, 2026

Minerva Infuses the Soul into the Human Figure Modeled in Clay by Prometheus

Art Night Venice 2026 | Extended hours at the Fondazione Giorgio Cini

Art Night Venezia returns on Saturday, June 20, 2026, organized by Ca’ Foscari University in close collaboration and partnership with the City of Venice. The Giorgio Cini Foundation and the Palazzo Cini Gallery are participating in the project, extending the opening hours of their exhibition spaces until 10:00 p.m.

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Exhibition Georg Baselitz. Eroi d’oro

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Exhibition How To Reach the Sky

Ex Piscina Gandini

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Exhibition Horst P. Horst. La Geometria della Grazia and 30 Years, The Wild Horses of Sable Island

Le Stanze della Fotografia

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Admission is free, and the venue will be open from 6:00 PM to 10:00 PM, with last entry at 9:15 PM.

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On the occasion of the Art Night, VisitCini guided tours on the island of San Giorgio Maggiore will also be expanded, along with extended hours for the bookshop. At 6:00 PM, visitors can tour the Vatican Chapels, while guided tours of the Giorgio Cini Foundation’s monumental spaces are scheduled for 7:30 PM and 8:30 PM (for information and reservations: www.visitcini.it). Caffè San Giorgio is also participating in the initiative and will remain open until 10:00 PM.

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The Palazzo Cini Gallery in San Vio is once again participating in this year’s Notte Bianca dell’Arte, opening the rooms on the first noble floor to the public. These rooms are furnished with pieces of furniture and works of art that reflect the original character of the residence and the personal taste of the great collector Vittorio Cini. On display are some thirty paintings from the Tuscan school, donated by Yana Cini to the Giorgio Cini Foundation in 1984, along with the part of the palace that houses them. Alongside the paintings—among which stand out Sandro Botticelli’s The Judgment of Paris, Pontormo’s Portrait of Two Friends, Piero di Cosimo’s Madonna and Child with Two Angels, and Renaissance paintings from the Ferrara school, including Cosmè Tura’s Saint George—are several significant examples of applied arts: ceramics, porcelain—including a complete service from the 18th-century Venetian Cozzi manufactory—ivory caskets and plaques, enamels, gold and silverware, Murano candlesticks and chandeliers, terracotta sculptures, sideboards, chests, and bookcases of considerable importance, including a rare Sienese wedding chest from the mid-14th century and an 18th-century Neapolitan sedan chair.

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On this occasion, visitors can admire the new “guest at the Palace”: Pompeo Girolamo Batoni’s oil-on-canvas painting Minerva Breathes Life into the Human Figure Molded in Clay by Prometheus.

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The second floor of the Gallery is hosting David Salle’s exhibition Painting in the Present Tense, which will remain open throughout the evening.

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Admission is free, and the venue will be open from 6:00 PM to 10:00 PM, with last entry at 9:15 PM.

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Discover all 2026 events

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Exhibitions

27 September 2025 — 2 March 2026
Venice, Palazzo Cini. The Gallery
Exhibition Casanova and Venice

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17 October 2025 — 2 March 2026
Venice, Island of San Giorgio Maggiore
Exhibition Casanova and Europe. Opera in Several Acts

EVENTs

19 — 23 January 2026
ARCHiVe ONLINE ACADEMY
Bringing Venice into Space

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27 — 30 January 2026
Umberto and Elisabetta Mauri School for Booksellers

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Exhibitions

27 September 2025 — 2 March 2026
Venice, Palazzo Cini. The Gallery
Exhibition Casanova and Venice

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17 October 2025 — 2 March 2026
Venice, Island of San Giorgio Maggiore
Exhibition Casanova and Europe. Opera in Several Acts

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21 February —5 July 2026
Le Stanze della Fotografia
Exhibition Horst P. Horst. The Geometry of Grace

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21 February — 06 April 2026
Le Stanze della Fotografia
Exhibition Ahmet Ertuğ Beyond the vanishing point

EVENTs

2 February 2026
INSTITUTE FOR THE HISTORY OF THE VENETIAN STATE AND SOCIETY
Presentation of the volume Il Veneto. Un profilo per i beni culturali

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3 — 22 February 2026
Treviso, Teatro Comunale Mario Del Monaco
ITALIAN ANTONIO VIVALDI INSTITUTE
Accademia Vivaldi
Advanced courses on the interpretation of the music of Antonio Vivaldi L’Olimpiade – Conservatorio di Musica Agostino Stefani Castelfranco Veneto

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10 February 2026
Online on Zoom
ARCHiVe ONLINE ACADEMY
Semantic Attractors, Bias, and Distributed Creativity: Images and Authorship in the Age of Artificial Intelligence

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23 — 24 February 2026
INSTITUTE OF THEATRE AND OPERA
Seminar Singing in the fire with masks

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23 — 25 February 2026
Centro Digitale – ARCHiVe
ARCHiVe ONLINE ACADEMY
Beyond Cinema

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25 February 2026
INSTITUTE OF MUSIC
Study day and closing concert Hindsight and repositioning: composers and the challenges of the third age

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26 — 27 February 2026
INSTITUTE FOR THE HISTORY OF THE VENETIAN STATE AND SOCIETY
Conference Venezia e il suo Stato da mar. Guerra e pace nello Stato da mar

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27 February 2026
AMBASSADOR
Return of the Tapestry ‘Entry into Palestine of the Army of Vespasian’

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Exhibitions

27 September 2025 — 2 March 2026
Venice, Palazzo Cini. The Gallery
Exhibition Casanova and Venice

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17 October 2025 — 2 March 2026
Venice, Island of San Giorgio Maggiore
Exhibition Casanova and Europe. Opera in Several Acts

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21 February —5 July 2026
Le Stanze della Fotografia
Exhibition Horst P. Horst. The Geometry of Grace

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21 febbraio — 06 aprile 2026
Le Stanze della Fotografia
Exhibition Ahmet Ertuğ Beyond the vanishing point

EVENTs

4 March 2026
INTERCULTURAL INSTITUTE OF COMPARATIVE MUSIC STUDIES
Concert of music from the Shashmaqom art Ilyos Arabov Ensemble, Uzbekistan

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4 — 6 March 2026
CENTRE FOR COMPARATIVE STUDIES OF CIVILISATIONS AND
SPIRITUALITIES
Workshop di suiboku (水墨, Japanese painting technique with water and ink)

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7 March 2026
Auditorium “Lo Squero” Music on San Giorgio | Veneto Jazz

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11— 13 March 2026
INSTITUTE OF MUSIC
Doctoral seminar Twentieth Century Music Archives: Preservation and Valorisation of the Sources

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14 March 2026
Auditorium “Lo Squero” Music on San Giorgio | Asolo Musica

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16 — 20 March 2026
EARLY MUSIC SEMINARS EGIDA SARTORI AND LAURA ALVINI
Seminar and concert of advanced training in early music: Trionfi. Music, poetry and longevity between Guillaume de Machaut and Francesco Petrarca

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20 March 2026
AMBASSADOR
The unveiling of The Dream of Jacob by Valentin Lefèvre

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24 — 27 March 2026
INSTITUTE OF MUSIC
Workshop and concert Research-Led Performance 20th Century Italian Piano Music

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25 — 27 March 2026
ITALIAN ANTONIO VIVALDI INSTITUTE
Accademia Vivaldi. Advanced courses on the interpretation of the music of Antonio Vivaldi

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28 March 2026
Auditorium “Lo Squero” Music on San Giorgio | Asolo Musica

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31 marzo 2026
INTERCULTURAL INSTITUTE OF COMPARATIVE MUSIC STUDIES
Conference Sound archives amid memories, restitution and new cultural processes

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Exhibitions

21 February —5 July 2026
Le Stanze della Fotografia
Exhibition Horst P. Horst. The Geometry of Grace

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21 February — 06 April 2026
Le Stanze della Fotografia
Exhibition Ahmet Ertuğ Beyond the vanishing point

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17 April — 12 July 2026
Exhibition How to reach the Sky
Barbora Šlapetová e Lukáš Rittstein

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19 April — 22 November 2026
LE STANZE DEL VETRO
Exhibition 1948-1958 Murano Glass and the Venice Biennale

EVENTs

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1 — 10 April 2026
22th Edition Solti-Peretti Répétiteur Masterclass

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11 April 2026
Auditorium “Lo Squero” Music on San Giorgio | Asolo Musica

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14 — 18 April 2026
ITALIAN ANTONIO VIVALDI INSTITUTE
Accademia Vivaldi Advanced courses on the interpretation of the music of Antonio Vivaldi

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21 — 23 April 2026
CENTRE FOR COMPARATIVE STUDIES OF CIVILISATIONS AND
SPIRITUALITIES
Conference Academic Freedom and the Challenges of Humanism(s)

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25 April 2026
Auditorium “Lo Squero” Music on San Giorgio | Asolo Musica

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28 — 29 April 2026
INSTITUTE OF MUSIC, INSTITUTE OF THEATRE AND OPERA
Conference Opera in musica tra intertestualità e intermedialità. In ricordo di Michele Girardi

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Exhibitions

21 February —5 July 2026
Le Stanze della Fotografia
Exhibition Horst P. Horst. The Geometry of Grace

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17 April — 12 July 2026
Exhibition How to reach the Sky
Barbora Šlapetová e Lukáš Rittstein

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19 April — 22 November 2026
LE STANZE DEL VETRO
Exhibition 1948-1958 Murano Glass and the Venice Biennale

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6 May — 27 September 2026
Exhibition David Salle

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6 May — 27 September 2026
Exhibition Georg Baselitz

EVENTs

2 May 2026
Auditorium “Lo Squero” Music on San Giorgio | Asolo Musica

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7 May 2026
Online on Zoom
INTERCULTURAL INSTITUTE OF COMPARATIVE MUSIC STUDIES
Workshop Eyes on Music

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14 — 15 May 2026
INSTITUTE OF THEATRE AND OPERA
Study conference Paolo Poli. Sixty and More Years of Theatrical Ingenuity

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15 May 2026
Online on Zoom
ARCHiVe ONLINE ACADEMY
Becoming Chimeric: Verso Identità Radicali Attraverso il Glitch

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16 May 2026
Auditorium “Lo Squero” Music on San Giorgio | Veneto Jazz

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19 — 22 May 2026
ITALIAN ANTONIO VIVALDI INSTITUTE
Accademia Vivaldi Advanced courses on the interpretation of the music of Antonio Vivaldi

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20 May 2026
INTERCULTURAL INSTITUTE OF COMPARATIVE MUSIC STUDIES
Kapila Venu. Pārvatīviraham

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20 May 2026
AMBASSADOR
Naṅṅyār, le attrici del teatro classico indiano

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23 May 2026
Auditorium “Lo Squero” Music on San Giorgio | Asolo Musica

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26 — 28 May 2026
INSTITUTE OF MUSIC
Conference and concert Dimensions of Current Compositional Practice (2) Composers in Dialog with Musicologists

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Exhibitions

21 February —5 July 2026
Le Stanze della Fotografia
Exhibition Horst P. Horst. The Geometry of Grace

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17 April — 12 July 2026
Exhibition How to reach the Sky
Barbora Šlapetová e Lukáš Rittstein

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19 April — 22 November 2026
LE STANZE DEL VETRO
Exhibition 1948-1958 Murano Glass and the Venice Biennale

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6 May — 27 September 2026
Exhibition David Salle

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6 May — 27 September 2026
Exhibition Georg Baselitz

EVENTs

13 June 2026
Auditorium “Lo Squero” Music on San Giorgio | Asolo Musica

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19 June 2026
Auditorium “Lo Squero”
INSTITUTE OF MUSIC
Concert for the 90th anniversary of the death of Ottorino Respighi

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27 June 2026
Auditorium “Lo Squero” Music on San Giorgio | Veneto Jazz

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30 June — 3 July 2026
ITALIAN ANTONIO VIVALDI INSTITUTE
Accademia Vivaldi Advanced courses on the interpretation of the music of Antonio Vivaldi

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Exhibitions

21 February —5 July 2026
Le Stanze della Fotografia
Exhibition Horst P. Horst. The Geometry of Grace

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17 April — 12 July 2026
Exhibition How to reach the Sky
Barbora Šlapetová e Lukáš Rittstein

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19 April — 22 November 2026
LE STANZE DEL VETRO
Exhibition 1948-1958 Murano Glass and the Venice Biennale

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6 May — 27 September 2026
Exhibition David Salle

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6 May — 27 September 2026
Exhibition Georg Baselitz

EVENTs

3 — 4 July 2026
Inequalities in Longevity

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2 July 2026
Online on Zoom
INTERCULTURAL INSTITUTE OF COMPARATIVE MUSIC STUDIES
Workshop Eyes on Music

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2 July 2026
ITALIAN ANTONIO VIVALDI INSTITUTE
Round table The representation of the elderly and generational relationships in the works of Vivaldi

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Exhibitions

19 April — 22 November 2026
LE STANZE DEL VETRO
Exhibition 1948-1958 Murano Glass and the Venice Biennale

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6 May — 27 September 2026
Exhibition David Salle

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6 May — 27 September 2026
Exhibition Georg Baselitz

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Exhibitions

19 April — 22 November 2026
LE STANZE DEL VETRO
Exhibition 1948-1958 Murano Glass and the Venice Biennale

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6 May — 27 September 2026
Exhibition David Salle

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6 May — 27 September 2026
Exhibition Georg Baselitz

EVENTs

AMBASSADOR
Homo Faber 2026: An Island of Light

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1 — 30 September 2026
Homo Faber 2026: An Island of Light

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11 September 2026
AMBASSADOR
My library is on fire

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11 — 20 September 2026
DIGITAL CENTRE – ARCHIVE
My library is on fire

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13 September 2026
Online on Zoom
INTERCULTURAL INSTITUTE OF COMPARATIVE MUSIC STUDIES
Workshop Eyes on Music

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Exhibition

19 April — 22 November 2026
LE STANZE DEL VETRO
Exhibition 1948-1958 Murano Glass and the Venice Biennale

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8 October 2026 — 21 March 2027
Londra, British Museum, Prints and Drawings galleries
Exhibition Italian Renaissance Woodcut 1400-1550

EVENTs

INSTITUTE OF ART HISTORY, GLASS STUDY CENTRE
International Study Conference Glass and Decorative Arts at the Venice Biennale. 1948–1958

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29 October 2026
INSTITUTE OF ART HISTORY
Study day Conversation on Longevity in Artistic Production

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29 — 30 October 2026
INSTITUTE OF MUSIC
Study day Metamorphoses of the Musical Work: Self-Recasting and Rewriting in the Twentieth Century

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Exhibitions

19 April — 22 November 2026
LE STANZE DEL VETRO
Exhibition 1948-1958 Murano Glass and the Venice Biennale

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8 October 2026 — 21 March 2027
Londra, British Museum, Prints and Drawings galleries
Exhibition Italian Renaissance Woodcut 1400-1550

EVENTs

2 — 6 November 2026
EARLY MUSIC SEMINARS EGIDA SARTORI AND LAURA ALVINI
Seminar and concert of advanced training in early music The Aura of Willaert. Petrarchan Madrigals in ‘Musica Nova’, 1559

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7 November 2026
Auditorium “Lo Squero” Music on San Giorgio | Veneto Jazz

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9 November 2026
AMBASSADOR
Amid Music and Cinema: The Universe of Nino Rota

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10 — 12 November 2026
INTERCULTURAL INSTITUTE OF COMPARATIVE MUSIC STUDIES
Seminar Global music production in the age of longevity: aesthetics, markets, technologies, new professions and the transmission of knowledge

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13 November 2026
Award ceremony for poetic translation in memory of Benno Geiger

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14 November 2026
Auditorium “Lo Squero” Music on San Giorgio | Asolo Musica

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19 — 21 November 2026
Symposium Humankind and Longevity

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24 — 27 November 2026
ITALIAN ANTONIO VIVALDI INSTITUTE
Accademia Vivaldi. Advanced courses on the interpretation of the music of Antonio Vivaldi

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26 — 27 November 2026
INSTITUTE OF ART HISTORY
International study conference Antonio Morassi, fifty years after his death (1976–2026)

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28 November 2026
Auditorium “Lo Squero” Music on San Giorgio | Veneto Jazz

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Exhibitions

8 October 2026 — 21 March 2027
Londra, British Museum, Prints and Drawings galleries
Exhibition Italian Renaissance Woodcut 1400-1550

EVENTs

1 — 3 December 2026
CENTRE FOR COMPARATIVE STUDIES OF CIVILISATIONS AND
SPIRITUALITIES
Conference Religion after Longevity: Between Religious Traditions and Post-Humanism

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3 December 2026
INTERCULTURAL INSTITUTE OF COMPARATIVE MUSIC STUDIES
Ethnomusicological film festival Eyes on Music

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5 December 2026
Auditorium “Lo Squero” Music on San Giorgio | Asolo Musica

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9 December 2026
AMBASSADOR
The Historical Archive of Fondazione Giorgio Cini

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10 dicembre 2026
AMBASSADOR
Paolo Poli, A Man of the Theatre

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12 dicembre 2026
Auditorium “Lo Squero” Music on San Giorgio | Asolo Musica

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15 — 17 dicembre 2026
INSTITUTE FOR THE HISTORY OF THE VENETIAN STATE AND SOCIETY
Conference Longevity and Gerontocracy in Venice (13th–18th Centuries)

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Homo Faber 2026 | An Island of Light

Fondazione Cologni dei Mestieri d’Arte and Michelangelo Foundation, in partnership with Fondazione Giorgio Cini, present the fourth edition of Homo Faber: An Island of Light, an event dedicated to the art of exceptional craftsmanship. Artistic direction has been entrusted to Es Devlin, who will bring her luminous artistic vision to Isola di San Giorgio Maggiore in Venice from 1 to 30 September 2026. The award-winning British artist is renowned for her monumental installations and kinetic sculptures, which have enriched museums, galleries, theatres and Olympic stadiums around the world. Her installation Library of Light attracted 200,000 visitors to Pinacoteca di Brera during the Salone del Mobile in Milan.

Artisans will take centre stage throughout the exhibition spaces and become the focal point of the visitor experience. Photographs, videos, poetry and music will highlight their faces, nationalities and cultures. A recreated artisan workshop will offer an intimate look at their tools, raw materials and working techniques, while several craftspeople will demonstrate their skills live in three of the main exhibition halls. All artworks and installations will be presented by a new group of Young Ambassadors: 90 talented design and applied arts students from around the world selected by Homo Faber to bring the exhibition to life. An Island of Light will offer a profound and inspiring experience exploring the essential relationship between light, materials and craftsmanship.

In addition to the exhibition spaces, the fourth edition will also feature a rich programme of live demonstrations, participatory workshops and unique gastronomic experiences, allowing visitors to immerse themselves even further in the world of craftsmanship and tailor their day according to their own interests.

Finally, alongside the exhibition, Homo Faber in Città will return once again: throughout the month of September, Venetian artisan workshops featured in the Homo Faber Guide will open their doors to visitors, while a programme of fascinating exhibitions dedicated to Venice and its rich artisanal heritage will be hosted across some of the most beautiful sites of the Serenissima.

Find out more on homofaber.com

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Since 2018, Homo Faber has presented the excellence of craftsmanship from around the world every two years, an initiative organized by Michelangelo Foundation in collaboration with Fondazione Cologni dei Mestieri d’Arte and Fondazione Giorgio Cini. With each edition, the spaces of Isola di San Giorgio are transformed and brought to new life.

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14–30 September 2018
Homo Faber. Crafting a more human future

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10 April – 1 May 2022
Homo Faber: Crafting a more human future. Living Treasures of Europe and Japan

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1–30 September 2024
Homo Faber 2024 – The Journey of Life

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Appointments for Cini Ambassador 2026

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The Fondazione Giorgio Cini hosts a unique archive of documents, books, images and artworks over the last seventy years, it has served as a crucible of ideas, fostering fertile dialogue between cultures. Is a meeting place for artists, writers, philosophers, poets, scientists and musicians from all over the world.

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Cini Ambassador is the only programme that allows unfettered exploration of this long history, yet with a gaze towards the future and the cultural and social challenges that await us.

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Being a Cini Ambassador means having exclusive priority access to the Foundation’s initiatives as well as visits to the rooms, archives and collections along with the protagonists of research. Being a Cini Ambassador offers many privileges, including free admission to exhibitions at the Palazzo Cini Gallery in San Vio throughout the year. Being a Cini Ambassador means coming into direct contact with the research conducted in the Foundation’s Institutes and Research Centres.
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Again in 2026, there will be numerous activities and special days dedicat ed exclusively to the Cini Ambassadors.

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On 27 February, the fifteenth-century tapestry Entrance into Palestine of the Army of Vespasian from the Vittorio Cini Collection returns to the Fondazione Giorgio Cini. After a long and delicate restoration, carried out by Open Care in its Milan workshops and presented in Rome in the exhibition Restituzioni 2025.

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20 March is dedicated to the unveiling of Valentin Lefevre’s The Dream of Jacob, the painting at the centre of the wooden vault of the mon umental staircase designed by architect Baldassare Longhena, also the re sult of a major restoration project carried out with the support of the San Marco Group.

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On 20 May, the Intercultural Institute of Comparative Music Studies presents the world premiere of a performance by Kapila Venu, one of the leading exponents of Küțiyätțam theatre in southern India, with the per formance of an art that has been included in the UNESCO Intangible Cul tural Heritage since 2001.

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In September, the fourth edition of Homo Faber is held in cooperation with the Michelangelo Foundation, curated by Es Devlin and featuring a selection of the world’s finest representatives of artistic craftsmanship. On 11 September, the project undertaken in collaboration with fuse”, an Italian interdisciplinary studio with countless participations in the world’s leading art festivals, is presented: My library is on fire, a project of the Fondazione Giorgio Cini’s Digital Centre ARCHIVe. Thanks to the use of digital technologies and artificial intelligence, documentary heritage thus becomes a field of experimentation and research.

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On 9 November, the Institute of Music opens the Nino Rota Archive, which has been preserved and studied for thirty years by the Fondazione Giorgio Cini, for the Ambassadors.

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On 9 December there is an invitation is to discover the Fondazione Giorgio Cini’s Historical Archive for the first time. Thanks to the support of the Bank of Italy and a project by the Secretary General Renata Codello, in recent years a vast documentary heritage has been ordered and made accessible and searchable. Papers, letters, notes and testimonies reveal the dense web of relationships that the Foundation has woven with intellectu als, artists and a range of leading twentieth-century figures. The Founda tion’s archive thus opens up as a new space of living memory, capable of nourishing research and opening up new perspectives for the future.

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Finally, on 10 December, the appointments will come to an end with a meeting dedicated to the great artist Paolo Poli and his rich archival collection, acquired in 2019 by the Institute of Theatre and Opera, to be presented by the artist’s sister, Lucia Poli.
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This programme is exclusively dedicated to Cini Ambassador.

Accademia Vivaldi Advanced courses on the interpretation of Antonio Vivaldi’s music L’Olimpiade – ‘Agostino Steffani’ Music Conservatory of Castelfranco Veneto.

From 3 to 22 February, the Accademia Vivaldi is organising an advanced training course for the preparation and staging of Antonio Vivaldi’s opera L’Olimpiade, on the occasion of the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics. The project is held in collaboration with Italian and European institutions, led by the ‘Agostino Steffani’ Music Conservatory in Castelfranco Veneto, as part of the NRRP programme ‘Musical Theatre and New Technologies (MTNT): Toward a New Paradigm in Opera Studies and Performance’, dedicated to the promotion of musical culture abroad, in particular musical theatre, through the rediscovery and exploration of Venetian opera over the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.

Vivaldi’s dramma per musica will be performed on 21 February for schools and on Sunday 22 February at 4 p.m. at the Teatro Comunale Mario Del Monaco in Treviso, conducted by Francesco Fanna and directed by Fabio Condemi.

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Belonging to the most brilliant period of the author’s poetic activity, L’Olimpiade was written by Pietro Metastasio and has always been considered one of his most accomplished creations. This celebration of love and youth by two pairs of lovers, set against the pastoral backdrop of a remote, Arcadian golden age, expresses in terms of crystalline beauty the essence of the sentimental inspiration of Metastasio’s genius. It features some of the most emblematic passages from composer Antonio Vivaldi’s opera, which follows the lovers’ reactions through a recitative accompanied by inexhaustible inventiveness, sensitive to the slightest change in psychological attitude.

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Performance staged on the occasion of the official closing of the Milan-Cortina 2026 Games.

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Ahead of the show, 45 minutes before the curtain rises, there will be an introductory meeting at the Ridotto del Teatro as part of the “Oltre la scena” (Beyond the Stage) series.

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Sguardi Musicali

The event is part of a broader initiative called Sguardi Musicali: audiovisual ethnomusicology projects, launched in 2018 by the Intercultural Institute of Comparative Music Studies of the Giorgio Cini Foundation in Venice with the aim of promoting training and support for production in the field of audiovisual ethnomusicology.

This year’s edition includes a meeting to reflect on experiences of ethnographic fieldwork and the screening of audiovisual documentation resulting from the research carried out, with the presence of directors, researchers and curators of the exhibition, followed by the premiere screening of the film made by Kawkab Tawfik with the support of the Diego Carpitella Scholarship (2024-2025). The presentations will explore the cultures and ritual traditions of North-East Africa and the Middle East, with particular reference to the possession cult known as zār.

The event is organised in collaboration with Ca’ Foscari University of Venice and CFZ – Cultural Flow Zone.

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Folk Life in Upper Egypt
by Giovanni Canova (1978–1982) | Super 8 film, 35 min
former Professor at the University of Naples “L’Orientale”

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This is a rare ethnographic documentary that offers a vivid portrait of everyday traditions in Southern Egypt at the end of the 1970s. Filmed over several years by Giovanni Canova, the work portrays the rhythms of rural life in Upper Egypt through authentic examples of work songs, domestic songs, traditional music and dances. The camera follows farmers in the fields, women in their homes and communities gathered for celebrations, revealing the deep connections between song, work and popular religiosity. Viewers have the opportunity to observe local folklore and religious celebrations up close, where music becomes both a social bond and a spiritual expression. The film has no subtitles, allowing viewers to focus on the images.

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Ethnographic documentation of male dhikr jahrī in Andijan, Uzbekistan
by Giovanni De Zorzi (2003) | SD video, 5 min
Ca’ Foscari University of Venice

Dhikr jahrī session held on the night of 22 May 2003 in Andijan (Uzbekistan) in the private residence of Shaykh Adil Khan Qāri. The circle (halqah) of dervishes practises various types of vocal dhikr (jahrī), which can serve as a refrain to poetry on spiritual subjects and, in some phases, as a support for collective physical movements (raqs).

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Ethnographic documentation of female zikri in Harar, Ethiopia
by Simone Tarsitani (2003) | SD video, 5 min
Durham University, UK

Ziyārah (pilgrimage) to the branch of the Qurrabe Limay shrine on the night of 10 February 2003. A group of women sing and dance zikri, in parallel with a mawlūd ritual (celebrated by men only) on the occasion of the Arafa festival in Harar, Ethiopia. At two points in the video, it is possible to observe the altered state of consciousness of one of the participants in the dance.

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Mingis: a Somali possession cult
by Francesco Giannattasio (1982) | Super 8 film, 16 min
former Professor at the University of Rome ‘Sapienza’

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This film was made using audiovisual documentation collected on 11 and 18 March 1982 as part of a research project in the then Somali Democratic Republic, funded by the Institute of Psychology of the National Research Council and conducted by Raffaello Misiti, Francesco Antinucci, Alberto Antoniotto, Piero Coppo and Giannattasio himself. The video presents the highlights of a ritual, explained by Jama Valedi in an interview by Piero Coppo. Jama Valedi is one of the officiants in Somalia who preside over the cult of possession called mingis, a variant of zār (in Somali saar) practised in various regions of Muslim and Christian East Africa. The practices of the cult induce states of trance accompanied by music and dancing, with the aim of healing illnesses believed to be caused by possession by spirits known as mingis.

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Ethnographic documentation of zār
by Giovanni Canova (1978) | audio and photographs, 5 min
former Professor at the University of Naples “L’Orientale”

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The photographs document a zār session in Luxor on 24 May 1978, led by al-Sayyidah al-Nubiyyah, with an elderly woman who chanted accompanied by a tār (large frame drum), while two other women accompanied her with a duḥullah (terracotta tubular drum) and a riqq (tambourine with jingles). The audio recordings document a subsequent zār session organised in a private home.

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PREMIERE
Disappearing Zār: Salīlah the Spirit of the Water
by Kawkab Tawfik (Diego Carpitella Fellow, 2025) 60 min
Institut Français d’Archéologie Orientale du Caire (IFAO)

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Rooted in the ancient traditions of North-East Africa, zār is a ritual of spiritual possession and dance therapy that has long served as a tool for healing and emotional liberation. In Egypt, however, over the last fifty years this practice has been increasingly stigmatised and repressed, pushing the communities that practise it to the margins of society and threatening the very survival of the ritual.

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Through a combination of intimate interviews and archival footage, the film presents the essential characteristics of zār, while exploring themes of social and gender marginalisation within this disappearing spiritual world.

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At the centre of the narrative is Samāḥ, a woman oppressed by the burden of possession. Tormented by persistent voices and visions, she turns to a kūdya, a zār priestess, who prescribes a ritual dedicated to Salīlah, the spirit of the waters. Samāḥ’s mother, a follower of the zār, was also possessed by Salīlah and celebrated annual ceremonies to appease the spirit’s wrath, until one day she mysteriously drowned with five relatives in the Nile. Since then, Samāḥ has never found the courage to celebrate another zār. Now, as the possession grows stronger and begins to afflict her two daughters, she seeks help from Muḥammad, one of the last zār musicians still performing within rituals in Egypt. Convinced that there is no time to wait, Muḥammad insists that the ceremony must take place on the waters of the Nile.

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As preparations proceed – amid the lively markets of Bāb Zuwālah, the gathering of sacred objects and the selection of animals for sacrifice – the film follows the community’s journey towards the ritual. On the river, to the hypnotic rhythm of the Salīlah chants, Samāḥ begins to dance: the dance of possession, a trance that once again connects her to the spirit and legacy of the generations of women who came before her.

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Free admission until full capacity is reached.

Award ceremony for the XII ‘Benno Geiger’ Poetry Transcribe Prize

The annual prize named after Benno Geiger celebrates the figure of this major twentieth-century intellectual, known for his work as a writer, poet, translator and art critic. The prize acknowledges and enhances his liter-ary and artistic contribution through his vast correspondence, which includes exchanges with numerous Italian and European figures, archived among the literary collections on the Island of San Giorgio Maggiore. A jury made up of writers, university lecturers and critics gives an award for a translated work published during the year, and also gives a prize to the best young translator. During the award ceremony, which is open to the public, a prologue is given by a member of the jury on a central theme of the contemporary literary tradition.

The Venice Glass Week | #The Magic Of Glass

The ninth edition of The Venice Glass Week, the international festival created in 2017 to celebrate, support and promote the art of glass, will take place from 13 to 21 September 2025 in Venice, Murano and Mestre. It will be a week packed with more than 200 events organised by over 300 participants in 130 different venues.

For this new edition, the event invites you to be captivated by the magic that has accompanied the transformation of artistic glass for centuries, a process as ancient as it is surprising, which continues to generate wonder.

A rich programme including a tribute to Casanova at the Glass Museum, a historical retrospective at LE STANZE DEL VETRO, and then many workshops, tastings, meetings and workshops dedicated to beads that tell the story of tradition, innovation and heritage. The Venice Foundation Prize for The Venice Glass Week for the best project of the festival has been confirmed, joined for the first time by The Venice Glass Week Hub Under 35 Scholarship Prize at The Studio of The Corning Museum of Glass and the Arterìa Prize for The Venice Glass Week HUB.

Go to The Venice Glass Week Programme

OPEN ARCHIVES

On the occasion of The Venice Glass Week 2025, the Fondazione Giorgio Cini’s Glass Study Centre is opening its archives for guided tours of drawings, designs, photographs and documents related to the history of Murano glass art. Thanks to new spaces inaugurated in 2023, the Archive, with over 250,000 items, offers a unique experience for scholars and enthusiasts, showcasing an extraordinary heritage of precious documentary sources and study materials.

For information and opening hours of the Glass Study Centre’s Open Archives event, visit The Venice Glass Week website.

Best Secret Place

On the occasion of the 82nd Venice International Film Festival, the Fondation Cartier pour l’art comtemporain is screening the film “Best Secret Place” by filmmakers Caroline Poggi and Jonathan Vinel every day at 6.00pm from 31 August to 6 September, in the exhibition spaces at Fondazione Giorgio Cini. The film has been commissioned by the Fondation Cartier and was shot in the building site of the Fondation Cartier’s new spaces at 2, Place du Palais Royal in Paris.

A synopsis of the film

Every night, characters wake up in a secret place. They don’t know where they are or how they got there. In search for clues on the walls, in the graffiti, they populate the space with their fears, desires and dreams. In this unusual dream-like decor, the melancholy gradually turns into light. Caroline Poggi and Jonathan Vinel have been selected to participate in the 2025 Venice International Film Festival’s Venice Immersive section.

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Caroline Poggi was born in 1990 in Ajaccio. She studied film editing at the University of Corsica and later graduated from Paris 8 University. Jonathan Vinel was born in 1988 in Toulouse and studied editing at La FÉMIS. They began as solo directors before collaborating on Tant qu’il nous reste des fusils à pompes, which won the Golden Bear for Best Short Film at the 2014 Berlinale. Their first feature film, Jessica Forever (2018), premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival and later screened at Berlinale 2019. Their latest film Eat the Night was shown at the2024 Cannes Directors’ Fortnight. Their film La fille qui explose is part of the Venice Immersive Extended Reality (XR) section of the 82nd Venice International Film Festival.
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Daily at 6pm, from 31 August to 6 September.
Admission to the exhibition is free, and no booking is required to attend the screenings.
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