While spring preparations continue on London’s art scene, we are faced with a very special future announcement that we should already note in our calendars. Belmacz invites us to one of the quietest and most mysterious corners of the Venetian lagoon — San Michele Island — with its group exhibition titled “Esto Perpetua”, which will open its doors on 22 April.
The exhibition, built upon Venice’s unique fragility and resilience, will run until 19 June.
Conceptual Horizon: San Michele Island
The exhibition takes its name from the Latin expression “Esto Perpetua”, meaning “May it last forever”, and designates Venice’s historic cemetery island, San Michele, as a conceptual horizon line. San Michele is not merely an end; it is a place where endings and continuities coexist, a symbol of Venice’s endless negotiation with time.
Preservation: Not Maintaining the Status Quo, But a Negotiation
Curated by Lavinia Filippi, director of the “Venice in Peril Fund”, the exhibition approaches the concept of “preservation” from an unconventional perspective:
Rejection of Stasis: Preservation is not simply freezing the past as it is; it is treated as a delicate negotiation process between history, care, and transformation.
The Power of Fragility: Venice is portrayed as a city that transforms decline into new layers of meaning and survives through its fragility.
Craft and Material: The artists make this constant transformation visible through material, gesture, and craftsmanship.
Participating Artists
The exhibition brings together seven artists from different disciplines who filter the spirit of Venice through their own sensibilities:
Carolyn Barker-Mill
Toby Christian
Coco Crampton
Leonardo Frigo
Domitilla Harding
Tina Itkonen
Massimo Nordio
These names will reinterpret both the physical and metaphysical layers of Venice across a wide spectrum ranging from glass to photography, and from sculpture to performance.
Exhibition Notes
Dates: 22 April – 19 June 2026
Venue: Belmacz, London
Curator: Lavinia Filippi
In collaboration with: Venice in Peril Fund
If you want to explore Venice’s effort to be “eternal” with a grace born from decay, this exhibition should be at the very top of your April calendar.
