BOTTEGA VENETA UTILIZES THE OCCASION OF THE 59TH VENICE BIENNALE TO BECOME A CULTURAL CURATOR

27 apr 2022, for frame

Location

Venice, Metropolitan City of Venice, Italy

Brand

Bottega Veneta

Bottega Veneta will hold a range of of art- and design-connected projects to celebrate Venice, the brand’s home, during the city’s 59th Biennale.

Key features

Shortly before the recent opening of the 59th Art Biennale di Venezia, Bottega Veneta’s first campaign under new art director Matthieu Blazy was unveiled on the city’s Grand Canal. Its objective was to penetrate the urban scene and leave an impression with tourists. To commemorate the occasion, it has has set up a gallery for fifteen limited-edition bags in typewriter maker Olivetti’s iconic showroom on the northern edge of Piazza San Marco, designed by Carlo Scarpa and completed in 1958.

Bottega Veneta’s cultural activities extend even further. It has collaborated with the Pinault Collection to present a series of performances at Punta Della Dogana. Choreographed by Lenio Kaklea, the shows – titled Dancing Studies – align with the exhibition Bruce Nauman: Contrapposto Studies on display at Punta Della Dogana until November. Bottega Veneta is aptly an official partner of the Biennale di Danza, funding the Biennale College Danza and supporting emerging dance and choreography talents.

Frame's take

A couple of months ago, Bottega Veneta collaborated with several stores specializing in traditional Italian goods like pasta to spotlight the bottegatradition: the luxury brand’s name means ‘Venetian store’ in Italian. Its classic woven leather bags – a staple since 1966 – are on show in the Olivetti showroom. In 1957, Olivetti commissioned Scarpa to reveal the craft behind its typewriters, and the retail space has become a museum of Scarpa's work through the years. Using the Olivetti showroom as a museum space, Bottega Veneta lifts the limited-edition traditional bags to the level of an exhibition while the art biennale takes over the city.

Expanding the display to other projects in Venice, Bottega Veneta serves as a facilitator of cultural exchange, acting as a curator. It’s a timely example of a big brand adapting its spatial programming and events offering to local culture, an important initiative as cities face dwindling space for post-COVID cultural gatherings.