From Marco Polo to contemporary art, here is the 2024 program of the Venice City Museums

The Venetian Civic Museums are offering a rich contemporary art program in 2024 and consolidating structural investments to make the museums more welcoming and functional. Protection and enhancement of the collections are priorities, with discoveries such as the work of Andrea Mantegna and projects dedicated to the Renaissance. The Foundation engages in new cultural activities in Venice and the Mainland, emphasizing the museum as a hub of city life. A Foundation increasingly active in operations even “outside museums,” involved in investments for new cultural activities and realities, in Venice and the Mainland.

Cultural interaction, stimulation of knowledge, interest, participation, as well as study and historical-scientific research characterize the exhibitions for the 700th anniversary of Marco Polo’s death: first of all the great exhibition at the Doge ’s Palace The Worlds of Marco Polo. The Journey of a Venetian Merchant in the Thirteenth Century , April 6-September 29, followed by the usual appointment with The Ways of Writing with the exhibition at the Museo Correr from April 24 to October 15 and master classes dedicated to Chinese and Arabic calligraphic cultures. Also, the project Alphabet Marco Polo. Venice - Istanbul from May 7 to 16 and Marco Polo. The Costumes of Enrico Sabbatini at the Museum of Palazzo Mocenigo featuring costumes from the famous RAI script, May 14-September 30. In spring, the exhibition proposal dedicated to contemporary art and its great protagonists takes shape, investigating different media and languages: starting with Eva Marisaldi at the Museo di Casa Goldoni from March 21 to Nov. 24; Eva Jospin with a large site-specific work created for the Museo di Palazzo Fortuny, April 10-Nov. 24; Francesco Vezzoli ’s Museums of Tears at the Museo Correr, April 17-Nov. 24; and Ca’ Pesaro, Galleria d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea’s tribute to Armando Testa with a monograph dedicated to the creative artist from Piedmont, a link with the museum born in 2022 with the donation to the Venetian civic collections of 17 works. The dialogue on the second floor, in the Dom Pérignon Rooms, is with The Style of Chiara Dynys, April 20-September 15. The Glass Museum in Murano hosts Federica Marangoni ’s Looking to the Future, May 19-Nov. 3; the Museum of Palazzo Mocenigo opens to Carla Tolomeo’s Tree of Life project, May 25-Nov. 24; and Mestre hosts the group exhibitions of the fifth edition of Artefici del nostro tempo at Forte Marghera, June-Dec. 31 and the eighth edition of Premio Mestre di Pittura, Sept. 14-Oct. 20.

Expected in the summer are Loris Cecchini at Ca’ Rezzonico from June 12 to Nov. 24 and Fragile Stories for the Biennale del Merletto in Burano, June 14 to Jan. 5, 2025. Major exhibitions and displays will accompany visitors until the end of the year, with the work of the fervid Chilean painter Roberto Matta, Oct. 25-March 23, 2025 and the project dedicated to Giorgio Andreotta Calò from Nov. 15 to March 4, 2025 at Ca’ Pesaro, to Stories of Factories, Stories of Families to present to the public the ’important and conspicuous donation works of the Carlo Moretti company to the Glass Museum. Among the various structural interventions in Venice is the expansion of the Glass Museum in Murano, with an investment of more than 5 million euros and the creation of a new section dedicated to contemporary glass art, together with the restyling of the second floor of the Correr Museum, along with the planning of the restoration and recovery of the Loggia della Pescheria in Rialto. Starting with the Candiani Cultural Center, increasingly identifiable with the House of Contemporaneity in Mestre, also thanks to the extraordinary reception for the exhibition Chagall. The Color of Dreams-which closed with more than 31,000 visitors, in addition to the international tourists who find in the center of Mestre a new point of interest for cultural activities and which in the fall will open its doors to Matisse and the Light of the Mediterranean on display from September 28, 2024 to March 4, 2025. The effort continues with work on the former Emeroteca on Via Poerio, a project that will bring artistic production to the heart of the city with the opening of ateliers for artists and a literary café, to the project to redevelop the Palaplip on Via San Donà into a multipurpose center with a social and cultural function. A dimension that speaks of a metropolitan territory, both physical and cultural, that is growing in size, which MUVE and the Administration also celebrate on Museum Days in Celebration.

Training

To skills and especially to young people, MUVE shows constant interest. In 2024, it validates connections with universities and educators and expands museum activities with meetings, advanced courses, master classes and hands-on experiences, offering new perspectives on history, the world and current events. It promotes the heritage of the Civic Museums in events such as the Boat Show, the Italian High Craftsmanship Show, Design Week and Venice Glass Week, enhancing the Abate Zanetti School. It also organizes meetings on cultural management and conferences on the economics of aesthetics.

Museums for all

Spaces for meeting, exchange, growth and inspiration, places for experimentation and community, increasingly open and sustainable, offering advanced services to visitors. For example, Palazzo Ducale’s new interactive audio guides and the Dog & Museum service, which allows visitors to book a dog walker to enjoy the tour with peace of mind. Museums promote accessibility and inclusion, with multisensory areas such as the one dedicated to the Fontego dei Turchi at the Museum of Natural History and welcoming environments such as Spazio ’700 - MUVE for All at Ca’ Rezzonico. Among the 180 proposals, the MUVE Education program is always characterized by a special focus on accessibility and inclusion. Valuable opportunities for positive social impact and to explore new meanings of the collections, offering meaningful experiences for all. These include: sensory paths with innovative materials and tactile exploration of the works, inclusive art conversations for small groups, Italian language school for various age groups and contexts, including rehabilitation paths.

“MUVE’s commitment with the municipal administration is more articulated every year: it no longer concerns only the opening and closing of museums and the care of collections, but contributes to the overall promotion of culture in the city, throughout the territory, offering more and more opportunities to residents and visitors. It is a challenge for innovation that we continue with determination together with the Cda, curators, technicians, security guards, security, cleaning, bookshops and cafeterias,” says Mayor Luigi Brugnaro.

“It is also guaranteed by MUVE’s rich program of educational activities dedicated to families, schools, with projects designed for people with special needs, to increase the participatory process and dialogue building, through new readings and interpretations of cultural heritage,” recalls Fondazione Musei Civici President Mariacristina Gribaudi.

Image: Ducal Palace

From Marco Polo to contemporary art, here is the 2024 program of the Venice City Museums

Warning: the translation into English of the original Italian article was created using automatic tools. We undertake to review all articles, but we do not guarantee the total absence of inaccuracies in the translation due to the program. You can find the original by clicking on the ITA button. If you find any mistake,please contact us.