fondazione dries van noten to open in venice with 'the only true protest is beauty' exhibition

Dries Van Noten foundation to open in april 2026

Fondazione Dries Van Noten is set to open in April 2026 inside Venice’s Palazzo Pisani Moretta, positioning craftsmanship as a material, bodily, and imaginative act at the core of a new cultural platform. Overlooking the Grand Canal and located between the Rialto Bridge and Ca’ Foscari, the foundation is situated within a historic palazzo, proposing a framework that frames making as the common ground through which culture is formed, transmitted, and renewed. ‘Venice is more than a weekend destination; it’s a city full of life, from its markets to its young residents, with a one-of-a-kind cultural stimulus,’ notes Dries Van Noten.

Built in the late 15th century in the Venetian Gothic Fiorito style, Palazzo Pisani Moretta later became the residence of the Pisani Moretta family and underwent an extensive Rococo redecoration between 1735 and 1750 under Chiara Pisani (find designboom’s previous coverage here). Restored in the late 20th century, the building still preserves original furnishings and artworks, including paintings by Giambattista Tiepolo, Jacopo Guarana, Gaspare Diziani, and Giuseppe Angeli. The Fondazione activates these historic interiors as an active participant in its programming, allowing the layers of Venetian history to coexist with contemporary cultural production.

The foundation’s inaugural presentation, titled The Only True Protest Is Beauty, opens to the public on April 25th, 2026, and runs through October 4th, 2026. Curated by Dries Van Noten together with Geert Bruloot, the exhibition explores beauty as a force capable of provocation, reflection, and transformation. Its title draws from a line by American songwriter and political activist Phil Ochs, who wrote that ‘in such ugly times, the only true protest is beauty.’ 

all images courtesy of Fondazione Dries Van Noten

encounters across disciplines

Spanning the ground floor and the first and second piano nobile levels of the palazzo, the presentation unfolds across twenty rooms where more than two hundred works interact with the architecture and decorative language of the historic residence. Fashion, jewellery, art, collectible design, photography, ceramics, glass, and material experimentation converge in an evolving dialogue that moves beyond disciplinary boundaries. Selected pieces from fashion archives appear alongside contemporary textile works, while collectible design objects and experimental artworks explore the sensory and emotional dimensions of material culture.

Throughout the foundation, historic interiors frame unexpected encounters between artworks and objects. In the portego, the central hall connecting the entrance to the Grand Canal, a sculpture by Peter Buggenhout introduces themes of impermanence and uncertainty. Nearby, contemporary photographs by Steven Shearer converse with Memento Mori–inspired jewelry by Codognato and couture garments by Christian Lacroix and Comme des Garçons. Elsewhere, contemporary glass works by artists such as Alexander Kirkeby and Ritsue Mishima enter into dialogue with the palazzo’s historic glassware collection, while experimental furniture by designers including Guillermo Santomà and Lionel Jadot expands the exhibition’s material landscape.

Fondazione Dries Van Noten is set to open in April 2026

a palazzo shaped by centuries of Venetian craft

At the heart of the Fondazione Dries Van Noten’s mission is an expanded understanding of craftsmanship, one that goes beyond traditional craft categories to include the gestures, skills, and time-based processes through which ideas take physical form.

This perspective allows historical techniques and contemporary experimentation to be considered part of the same continuum, rather than opposing forces. The program is structured around exchange rather than hierarchy. Established practitioners and emerging voices are brought into dialogue, encouraging cross-pollination between disciplines that are often institutionally separated. In this setting, architecture can converse with fashion, food with design, and material research with artistic expression. The goal is to reveal how diverse practices share common roots in material engagement and human labor.

Venice itself plays a critical role in shaping the outlook of the foundation. Positioned between bridges and calli, the Fondazione situates its activities within the everyday rhythms of the city, connecting local knowledge and skills with a wider international context. By opening the historic halls of Palazzo Pisani Moretta to the public through curated programs and activities, Fondazione Dries Van Noten extends the palazzo’s legacy into the present and proposes craftsmanship as a living, adaptive force that carries traditions forward while reinventing them.

set inside Venice’s Palazzo Pisani Moretta

proposing a framework that frames making as the common ground

the palazzo is built in the late 15th century in the Venetian Gothic Fiorito style

at the heart of the Fondazione Dries Van Noten’s mission is an expanded understanding of craftsmanship

restored in the late 20th century

allowing the layers of Venetian history to coexist with contemporary cultural production

the building still preserves original furnishings and artworks

the Fondazione activates these historic interiors as an active participant in its programming

Christian Lacroix, Look 38 Haute Couture FW2004 | image courtesy of Christian Lacroix and STL group

Christian Lacroix, Haute Couture FW 2003 Look 34_Courtesy of Christian Lacroix, STL group, Coat by courtesy of Madame Suzanne Saperstein | image by Christian Lacroix

Comme des Garçons, Collection FW 2016 Look 10, courtesy of Foundation Azzedine Alaïa | image Comme des Garçons

Lionel Jadot, Let Me Talk (Chandelier), 2025, courtesy of Objects With Narratives | image by Stanislas Huaux

Isaac Monté, Crystallized Blue in Green, 2025, courtesy of the artist and Spazio Nobile | image by Monica Monté

Joseph Arzoumanov L’Enfant, portrait de Macha Makeieff, 2022 | image by Cyril Bardy

Kaori Kurihara, Pirouette botanique, 2025 | image by Kaori Kurihara

Lionel Jadot, SLV Chair, 2020, courtesy of Objects With Narratives | image by Stanislas Huaux

overlooking the Grand Canal and located between the Rialto Bridge and Ca’ Foscari

Fondazione Dries Van Noten extends the palazzo’s legacy into the present

1/5

Kaori Kurihara, Le rendez-vous des papillons, 2025 | image courtesy of the artist

Hubert Duprat, Tube de trichoptere, 1980-2021 courtesy of the artist and Galerie Art Concept | image by Nicolas Brasseur

Ritsue Mishima_Tears of light, 2022, courtesy of Pierre Marie Giraud Gallery | image by Pierre Marie Giraud

Lilla Tabasso, Uncultivated Garden, Zolla Tulipani, 2025, courtesy of the artist and Caterina Tognon | image by Roberto Marossi

Atelier Lachaert Dhanis, Trompe l’oeil, 2019-2022 | image by Sofie Lachaert

project info:

name: Fondazione Dries Van Noten | @fondazionedriesvannoten
location: Palazzo Pisani Moretta, Grand Canal, Venice, Italy
opening: April 2026