To celebrate the future renovation of the Galleria Giorgio Franchetti alla Ca’ d’Oro in Venice, Louis Vuitton held a dinner hosted by Daniele Ferrara, of Veneto’s Regional Directorate for Museums. Indian actress Deepika Padukone was in attendance, dressed in Louis Vuitton’s Spring Summer 2022 collection, and sporting the iconic Dauphine handbag with the Maisons’s jacquard ‘Since 1854’ textile. Other guests included Isabelle Huppert, Tahar Rahim, Valeria Golino, Nicoletta Romanoff, Giorgia Tordini, Candela Pelizza and Paolo Stella among others.
Timed to the 59th Art Exhibition in Venice – La Biennale di Venezia, Louis Vuitton proposes several initiatives that celebrate and support the contemporary art and exceptional heritage of Venice. From hosting a site-specific exhibition by German artist, Katharina Grosse, to extending partnerships with local foundations that preserve Venetian treasures, Louis Vuitton reaffirms its engagement in a city where history intersects with progressive cultural programming.
Since 2013, Louis Vuitton has fostered an active and ongoing presence in Venice through the Espace Louis Vuitton Venezia, part of the Hors les murs programme run by the Fondation Louis Vuitton. This local space has conceived and staged a series of exhibitions that showcase leading names in contemporary art and architecture.
This year, the Fondation Louis Vuitton has been included in the Official Collateral Events of the La Biennale di Venezia, a programme curated by Cecilia Alemani. The Espace Louis Vuitton will showcase Apollo, Apollo, a dimensional work created by Katharine Grosse for the exhibition area. Made of metal mesh and printed in a vivid spectrum of colour featuring the artist’s hands, the large-scale installation symbolises the boundaries between the artist’s body and the colourful material that disappear during the creative process. Apollo, Apollo’s draped form and saturated hues evoke Venetian artisanal hallmarks such as Fortuny fabrics and Terrazzo mosaics, while the material fluidity conjures the city’s canals and reflecting light. Within an austere darkened space, Apollo, Apollo creates a gateway to a dreamlike world in which visitors question their own perceptions of reality and illusion.
In 2021, Louis Vuitton renewed its partnership with the MUVE Foundation, which manages the cultural programming and protection of heritage throughout Venice. With the support of Louis Vuitton, MUVE will restore a series of paintings by French artist, Émile Bernard. Exhibited for the first time in the MUVE Museums collections, they will be revealed at the Espace Louis Vuitton Venezia beginning in December 2022, before being exhibited at the MuseoCorrer.
Finally, for the first week of the Exhibition, Vuitton will infuse the streets with colour and culture by refurbishing eight traditional Venetian newspaper kiosks, creating pop-up bookstands that will display and sell the entire Travel Editions Collections (City Guides, Fashion Eye, Travel Books).
(Information and pictures courtesy: Louis Vuitton)