BVLGARI: Opens Two Art Initiatives in Venice as Exclusive Partner of the Venice Biennale International Art Exhibition

Bulgari has announced its role as the exclusive partner of the Venice Biennale International Art Exhibition until 2030. This significant commitment reaffirms Bulgari's dedication to promoting creativity, fostering cultural dialogue, and advancing innovation, thereby perpetuating art and beauty to a broad audience, underscoring the Maison's strong and enduring bond with art cultivated over many years as an expression of freedom.

These two special initiatives will mark the brand's debut at the 2026 Venice Biennale International Art Exhibition. The Bulgari Pavilion within the Biennale Gardens will host a new project by Canadian artist Lotus L. Kang, while the Bulgari Foundation will present its first exhibition featuring Italian female artists Lara Favaretto and Monia Ben Hamouda at the Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana.

Jean-Christophe Babin, CEO of Bulgari Group, commented:

"For Bulgari, this partnership is a natural, meaningful, and forward-looking evolution of our continuously strengthened commitment to art over the years, with a focus on contemporary expression. As an exclusive partner, we are proud to contribute to the creation of a dynamic and stimulating environment where visitors, artists, and curators can freely experiment and engage in dialogue to collectively imagine and shape the culture of the future."

© Jacopo Salvi

About Lotus L. Kang's Work

At the Bulgari Pavilion, Kang will present "The face of desire is loss," an installation that continues her long-standing engagement with time as something intractable, sedimentary, and nonlinear. A series of unfixed photographic films, serving as the axis of the exhibition, will hang from steel beams. Exposed to the pavilion's light and humidity, these films will continuously react and develop throughout the Biennale. Kang will place tatami mats, castings, spirits, and other new sculptural works made from changing forms between these films. By covering the space's windows with 35mm celluloid film, Kang disperses the film's duration across a flat, simultaneous plane, while stage lighting casts intermittent, shifting hues of light throughout the installation.

Lotus L. Kang commented:

"'The face of desire is loss' condenses multiple spacetimes into one, an environment dependent on the viewer's body in light, time, and space. Collaged as an assemblage that rejects fixity and singularity, the bodies and environments here are in a process of transformation and metamorphosis towards exhaustion, death, and regeneration. The inside becomes the outside, and vice versa."

Lotus L. Kang, The face of desire is loss, Bvlgari Pavilion, Giardini della Biennale, Venice, 2026 Courtesy the artist, Bvlgari, Commonwealth and Council, Franz Kaka, Kukje Gallery and Esther Schipper Berlin/Paris/Seoul Photo © Andrea Rossett

Bulgari Foundation and Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana

The Bulgari Foundation will host its first exhibition at the Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana. This venue, symbolizing the preservation and transmission of knowledge, will feature two site-specific installations interacting with the library's heritage. In the forecourt, Monia Ben Hamouda will present "Fragments of Fire Worship," and in the Sansovino Hall, Lara Favaretto will unveil the final chapter of "Momentary Monument – The Library." Through this significant presence in Venice, the Bulgari Foundation renews its commitment to supporting contemporary talent by inviting two Italian female artists whose talents have been recognized by major awards. Monia Ben Hamouda is a recipient of the biennial "MAXXI Bulgari Prize," established in 2017 by Bulgari in collaboration with MAXXI Museum and now continued by the Bulgari Foundation. Lara Favaretto received the Young Italian Art Award in 2004-2005, presented work created for MAXXI at the 2005 Venice Biennale International Art Exhibition, and also participated in the 53rd and 58th editions.