On the occasion of the major retrospective dedicated to materiality in Judy Chicago’s practice, curated by Allison Raddock and on view at Alberta Pane Gallery in Venice until November 2026, Mara Sartore met the artist, one of the most influential figures in contemporary art and international feminism.

In this conversation, Chicago reflects on the transformative power of art, the meaning of resistance today, and the role of materials in shaping a practice that, for more than six decades, has intertwined memory, politics and imagination.

In Venice, a city often described as a place of conservation, the project “If All Time Is Eternally Present” chooses to interrogate the present. Realised as a Collateral Event of the 61st International Art Exhibition, the project promoted by the Pier Luigi Nervi Foundation transforms for one month the façade of Palazzo Nervi Scattolin into a public projection space, accompanied by a sound intervention and a bench designed specifically for the site.

Curated by Marta Barina and Chiara Carrera, the project brings together works by Kandis Williams, Meriem Bennani & Orian Barki, and Tai Shani, setting the legacy of Pier Luigi Nervi in dialogue with some of the most compelling voices in international contemporary art. But the exhibition is also the result of a long process of negotiation with the city and its institutions, becoming an opportunity to reflect on the relationship between art, architecture, and public space.

We spoke with the two curators, retracing the genesis of the project, the challenges encountered along the way, and the possibilities that Venice continues to offer to those who try to imagine new ways of inhabiting and activating the city.

In this conversation, Mara Sartore meets Amin Jaffer, curator of the Indian Pavilion, in his home in Venice to discuss the vision behind the national participation at the 2026 Biennale, “Geographies of Distance, Remembering Home”. Drawing from his own experience within the Indian diaspora, Jaffer reflects on migration, memory, and the emotional meaning of home through the work of five artists whose installations explore textiles, architecture, performance and landscape. The conversation also touches on Venice as a place of inspiration and cultural exchange, addressing the city’s fragile balance between international cultural growth and the preservation of its local community and identity.

Dries Van Noten – I hope to see a healthy hub of creativity, with many young people, and perhaps the...

The interview with Caroline Corbetta takes place in the bedroom of Palazzo Molin Querini, one of the spaces hosting ”KUNSTHAUS PARADISO. abitare Venezia“. Seated in kimonos on the large bed that cuts across the domestic landscape of the exhibition, surrounded by works by Giorgio Andreotta Calò and by the 53 artists participating in the project, the conversation unfolds around memory, artistic communities, and the practice of inhabiting Venice.

Nicoletta Fiorucci – I see a continuous flow of arrivals: new foundations, new people choosing to live...