Venice Biennale: Art in Cannaregio 02

At the Venice Art Biennale, I visited some collateral events in Cannaregio area close to the Santa Lucia Venice railway station. You can also check the first part of this visit-diary, in which I visited 3 such events.

This second part of my visit-diary looks at the art-exhibitions at Palazzo Donà delle Rose and the International Graphic School. Both these exhibitions can be visited free till 22 November 2026. In addition, it mentions the Jesuit church Santa Maria Assunta.

 

The above image is from the Indonesian pavilion at the International school of Graphics in Venice. You can click on all the images of this post for a bigger view.

The third and last part of this diary will be about the art exhibition in Palazzo Mora, the European Cultural Centre.

1. San Donà delle Rose Palace

This Palace located at 5038 Fondamenta Nove is hosting an exhibition called Fissures of Light - Diaspora: Dissonances in F# minor, including a group of artists from Guinea Equatorial. (Left: All the artists taking part in the exhibition at this palace)

The exhibition site includes different rooms and halls spread over 2 levels.

I am presenting some of the artworks which I liked in this exhibition, starting with a couple of artists from Guinea Equatorial.

Armando Abel Dyangani Mega, Guinea Equatorial: I will start with the artworks of Armando, whom I met and spoke to at the exhibition. He said, "I was born in Bata city where I studied initially and later went to Malabo. When I was 22, I came to study art in Salamanca, Spain. Since 2013, I live in Malabo in Guinea Equatorial." 

In the image below you can see Armando Abel Dyangani Mega with two of his artworks from this exhibition.

 

Fernando Nguema Medja, Guinea Equatorial: Fernando was a self-taught artist, who

learned sculpture from his uncle sculptor Antonio Edu, and he did carvings of traditional instruments, Balele masks and other arts of Fang tradition.

He lived for some time in Gabon, where he learned from Gabonese artist Obiang Djang. He died in 2008, when he was only 45 years old.

The image presents one of his artworks in the exhibition, which has a colourful traditional sculpture of the Fang people of Equatorial Guniea. 

Ibou Ndoye, Senegal: Born in Dakar, Senegal, Ibou is known for his mixed media art work and paintings. His art is known for the "perplexed faces" of street people and emigrant lives.

Ibou's grandmother was a tie-and-dye artist and his mother a dressmaker. Perhaps, that is why his artwork in this exhibition were painted fabrics, reminding about his background.

 

He graduated from the Fine Arts School of Dakar and spent time in Paris, France, before moving to the United States. He works with glass windows, canvases, carpets, and found objects. His work blends Senegalese traditions with modern abstraction to tell stories of everyday people and cultural identity.

Yasna Kohlbrenner Koko'Ya, Switzerland:  Originally from Basel (Switzerland), Koko'Ya wants to give voice to the voiceless through her art. 

 

She has presented her artworks in exhibitions in different parts of Africa including Nigeria and Democratic Republic of Congo. Many of her artworks presented in this exhibition also had strong African influence, such as the work shown in the image.

Rosa Mundi (Chiara Modica Donà dalle Rose), Italy: Rosa has grown up between Venice and Palermo (Sicily). She has studied art at Venice, Strasbourg and Paris. In 1993, she developed the Neo-Spatialism approach to art, following the pioneering work on Spatialism (use of space) by Argentinian-Italian sculptor-artist Lucio Fontana. According to Neo-spatialism, time does not exist but is only a human perception.

Light is a key element in the artwork created by Rosa. She does experimental installations, sculptures, paintings and photography, in a rich visual language. Over the past few years, she works mainly with marble, wood and terracotta. 

Her works in the exhibition include a double-sided Pinnochio, a marble sphere and a suitcase, shown in the image. She has created the Donà dalle Rose foundation. Her website provides more information about her.

Fulvio Merolli, Italy: Fulvio studied art in Rome and in Carrara. Since early 2000s, he is involved with an artistic collective called M'Arte Scultura. 

He is known for his monumental works displayed in public spaces as well as, for sacred spaces, especially in the Carrara marble.

In this exhibition, Fulvio has three artworks, all three in Carrara marble. The image below shows his artwork of a swimmer and the waves of water, all created with marble.

 

Martin Emschermann, Germany-Italy: Martin was born in Freiburg im Breisgau in Germany, studied art in Carrara, Italy and since 1990 lives in Palermo (Sicily, Italy), where he works as a sculptor. Over the past decades, he is known for his series of works on different themes.

For example, you can see his amazing sculptures of children made with iron and polyester resin and in partially maiolicated terracotta in his portfolio on his webpage. 

In this exhibition he has a few terracotta sculptures of children playing with soap bubbles that are absolutely amazing.  

2. The Jesuit Church

Coming out of the Donà delle Rose palazzo, I briefly stopped outside the Jesuit church dedicated to the ascension of St Mary (Santa Maria Assunta), which was originally built in 1128, while the present church building is from 1728.

At the top of the church is the marble sculpture of St Mary with the angels by Giuseppe Torretto while the front façade has the statues of the 12 apostles. Built by the crusaders, this church has many beautiful artworks including a painting by Tintoretto.

I was in a hurry and did not have the time to stop and visit the inside of this church. After the church my next stop was Palazzo Moro, but I am planning to write a full post dedicated to it, so I will proceed straight away to my last stop in Venice on this visit - the international school of Graphics in Calle Seconda del Cristo.

3. Indonesian Artists at the International School of Graphics

The first image of this post at the top shows one of the installations by an Indonesian artist, made like a well, that was supposed to collect rain water and whatever other materials wind brought to it.

The Indonesian exhibition was structured around an imaginary journey of Datu Na Tolu Hamonangan, the archivist of Harajaon Pusuk Buhit kingdom in 15th century Indonesia, from Lake Toba, to west Sumatra, to Malacca, passing from India and Egypt and reaching Venice. Incisions of different Indonesian artists are presented in this exhibition to depict this journey.

 

For example, the two images (above and below) are artworks of Agus Suwage using different materials and techniques such as linocut, water-colour and tobacco juice, present the journey in the east and in India.

 

The next image has oil portraits of imagined people he met during the journey and are by Ristyo Eko Hartanto.

 

In the End

I want to conclude this second part of my visit-diary with details of a sculpture by Martin Emschermann, that I liked very much.

 

The next, third and last, part of my visit diary will focus on the artworks in Palazzo Mora.

*****