One of the biggest benefits of living in Europe is how easily, in theory, you can hop over to Venice for a weekend away. Just a quick search on TikTok for ‘Ryanair carry-on bag’, and I was packed and ready for two nights in a city so striking, it feels almost fake.
I had three things on my list for Venice. First: the Biennale. My first visit to Venice was in 2019 (also for the Biennale), and when I ticked off ‘Biennale’ on the tourist form they give you, I realised I was an art tourist…I could not wait to get there and play the part. Cosplaying as an art patron at a gallery, museum or art festival is a favourite of my pastimes. Second: I absolutely needed to buy a pillow from Chiarastella Cattana. I’ll elaborate later on. Third: visit one of my architecture favourites, Carlo Scarpa’s Olivetti showroom. And, I suppose, I’ll add a fourth item on my itinerary: eat dinner at Covino, where I had my first adult wine awakening.
Let’s break it down :)
The Biennale
Going to the Biennale is top of my list, something I feel very lucky to have access to, and something that makes me so happy. Above all, the Biennale is just fun. It’s set up across two locations – the Giardini and Arsenale. The Gardenia is a collection of 30 buildings, or pavilions, all clustered in a big parkland on the southeastern bit of Venice. Each pavilion is allocated to a certain country, like Italy, Switzerland, Egypt, Spain, Poland, etc, and was designed by an architect from their respective countries. That, in itself, is a dream. Walking around the grounds is maybe half the reason why I like to go. Arsenale is a former shipyard, spruced up to house the countries that don’t have permanent pavilions (the countries were decided back in 1930).
And now that that’s covered – here goes my review of some of my favorite bits of the Biennale. I’m not sure if it was just me, but this year’s Biennale was a bit confusing…overall the art felt a bit depressing, a bit end-of-the-world, and honestly, maybe not as good as the 2019 exhibits (there! I said it!). But my favorite part was, as always, walking around the Giardini sipping on one, two or maybe even three aperol spritzes. Who cares if it was November??
Full list of artists here.
Chiarastella Cattana
My brother went to Venice in 2018 and bought a very beautiful blue checkered pillow. The pillow itself is perfect, but the pillow case? Heaven sent. This pillow, if I’m being honest, is the real reason I went to Venice. You can buy online of course, but I wanted to wait to get my first Chiarastella Cattana piece in real life. There’s nothing like swanning around a store for 40 minutes in a new city just to buy a little couch pillow.
When you feel the pillow or touch the fabrics – the quality is instantly obvious. Everything from Chiarastella Cattana is made in Italy, and they partner with artisanal weavers and designers throughout the country, using only Italian yarns. Venice is so visually rich – in materials, colors, buildings – this pillow, and all the Chiarastella Cattana fabrics, feels like a modern interpretation of that and a little piece of Venice you can bring home.
Spoiler though – they didn’t have the checkered pillow in store so I went for a checkered runner instead. I’ve put it on the bench behind my couch for the moment as my table doesn’t work with the runner – I figured at some point I’ll get the perfect table to go with the perfect runner.
Carlo Scarpa’s Olivetti Showroom
This is a bit of an OG Dreamspace. When I started Dreamspaces, I knew very little about architects, but Carlo Scarpa was one of the first architects I became obsessed with and, more importantly, remembered. Originally designed as a showroom for Olivetti typewriters, it fell into a state of neglect until the Assicurazioni Generali restored the space & entrusted it to FAI (the National Trust for Italy) in 2011.
The stairs are obviously the showstopper, but special mention to the red tiles (made from Murano glass) chosen by Carlo Scarpa in the entryway – this was done to mimic a red carpet, thus allowing every visitor to the showroom to feel like a modern-day superstar.
Cheerio and until next time,
Isabelle aka Dreamspaces
Ps: is it just me or did this feel like a blogspot post circa 2013?