CANICULA

Fondazione In Between Art Film announces

Canicula

, a group exhibition opening on May 6, 2026, at the Complesso dell’Ospedaletto in Venice on the occasion of the 61st Venice Biennale.


Curated by
Alessandro Rabottini
and
Leonardo Bigazzi
—the Fondazione’s artistic director and curator, respectively—
Canicula
is the third and final chapter of the “
Trilogy of Uncertainties
,” a series of exhibitions initiated by Fondazione In Between Art Film that has seen the Complesso dell’Ospedaletto transformed each time into a form of cinematic architecture. Beginning in 2022 with
Penumbra
and continuing in 2024 with
Nebula
, for each show in the trilogy a different atmospheric phenomenon has been deployed in order to explore states of vision as metaphors for the human condition.


Canicula
will premiere eight new site-specific video installations commissioned from
Lawrence Abu Hamdan
(1985, Jordan),
Massimo D’Anolfi and Martina Parenti
(1974, Italy/1972, Italy),
Roman Khimei and Yarema Malashchuk
(1992, Ukraine/1993, Ukraine),
Janis Rafa
(1984, Greece),
P. Staff
(1987, United Kingdom),
Wang Tuo
(1984, China),
Yuyan Wang
(1989, China), and
Maya Watanabe
(1983, Peru). All eight works are commissioned and produced by Fondazione In Between Art Film, the initiative conceived by
Beatrice Bulgari
to promote the culture of moving images and to support international artists, institutions, and theorists in their explorations of the dialogue between disciplines and time-based media.


“Canicula,” the Latin term that translates as “dog days,” is widely used today to refer to the hottest days of summer, a period of the year that, in various ancient Mediterranean cultures, was associated with either great abundance or terrible ruin. Following on from

Penumbra

(2022) and

Nebula

(2024),
Canicula
will mark the end of a narrative arc that, over the course of three Venice Biennale cycles, has gradually charted the transition from a lack of light to a surfeit. While
Penumbra
explored the ambiguity of dim light and
Nebula
navigated a path through the disorientation of fog,
Canicula
will look at blinding brightness and scorching heat. These are conditions that, once again, deceive the senses and raise questions about the reliability of vision and the interpretations of reality that it yields.


The exhibition concept for 
Canicula
is inspired by the phenomena of extreme light and heat as material and metaphorical frameworks, in which matter, people, and ideas are put under pressure. Image overload, information distortion, memory saturation, the abuse of power, and oppressive temperatures are taking societies—and, indeed, the Earth itself—to the very brink of collapse. The works in
Canicula
evoke the sensations associated with the overwhelming atmosphere of the present moment in which our bodies, minds, and politics are immersed. Within this context, the works engage with internal and external agents of consumption and erosion to ponder the irresolvable riddle of image production and its broader implications.


Ippolito Pestellini Laparelli
and his Milanese studio
2050+
have once again been invited to interpret the curatorial concept through the exhibition design. The composite architecture of the Complesso dell’Ospedaletto in Venice––incorporating the Church of Santa Maria dei Derelitti, the frescoed concert room, the old pharmacy, and areas of the modern retirement home––will be transformed to welcome the newly commissioned video installations into a close visual and sonic dialogue.


Canicula
will be accompanied by a cross-disciplinary symposium curated by
Bianca Stoppani
, curator of the Fondazione’s editorial and discursive programs. The symposium will involve the artists appearing in the exhibition and, via panels with international curators and thinkers, will expand the conversations around their practice.