Contemporary Venice: All the Experiences

Venice is not just a memory of the past. Venice is not only an open-air museum. It is also an extraordinary laboratory, an incubator of innovative ideas and evolving art.

A city that pulses with creativity, where contemporary art dialogues with historical heritage and reveals itself in outstanding venues, signature architecture, and international events.

If classical art is imprinted on its palaces and basilicas, its contemporary soul thrives in prestigious foundations, experimental galleries, independent spaces, and international events such as the Biennale.

Let professional guides, specialized in contemporary exhibitions and cultural spaces, accompany you through museums, foundations, and exhibitions constantly in motion.

Every year, Venice hosts dozens of temporary exhibitions in historic sites, regenerated buildings, and palaces overlooking the Grand Canal, enriching the artistic scene every season.

At the center of it all is the prestigious Venice Biennale, which transforms the Giardini, the Arsenale, and numerous collateral venues into a great crossroads of ideas and contemporary languages.

Alongside the Biennale, Venice offers a permanent circuit of contemporary art, with internationally renowned museums and foundations:

• Punta della Dogana, redesigned by Tadao Ando, home to the Pinault Collection and major temporary exhibitions in dialogue with the lagoon.
• Palazzo Grassi, facing the Grand Canal, with retrospectives of world-famous artists.
• Fondazione Prada at Ca’ Corner della Regina, where baroque architecture meets contemporary production in richly layered exhibitions.
• Fondazione Querini Stampalia, with Carlo Scarpa’s architectural interventions, presenting exhibitions dedicated to photography, visual art, and architecture.
• Ocean Space in the Church of San Lorenzo, an avant-garde center where art, science, and the environment reflect on the present.
• Museo Fortuny in Palazzo Pesaro Orfei, alternating Mariano Fortuny’s memory with impactful contemporary exhibitions.
• Peggy Guggenheim Collection, with its prestigious modernist collection and annual program of temporary exhibitions and site-specific projects.
• Ca’ Pesaro – International Gallery of Modern Art, with permanent collections and rotating exhibitions exploring contemporary trends in painting, sculpture, video, and performance.
• Casa dei Tre Oci on Giudecca, hosting major photography exhibitions dedicated to international authors such as Sabine Weiss, Jacques Henri Lartigue, Mario De Biasi, and Ferdinando Scianna. It is also home to Tre Oci/Tre Mostre, a photography program involving Venetian galleries and institutions.

Completing this mosaic, contemporary architecture shines in works such as Carlo Scarpa’s Olivetti Showroom in St. Mark’s Square, the Biennale pavilions, and IUAV University – a living workshop of research and design. International artists have also donated permanent installations to the city (like Lorenzo Quinn’s Hands or works at the cemetery of San Michele).

All over the city, independent spaces flourish, such as Fondazione Bevilacqua La Masa, incubator of young artists, and galleries like Alberta Pane, A plus A, Ikona Gallery, Venice Art Factory on Giudecca, hubs for photography, installations, and new artistic languages.

Among annual highlights, beyond Biennale Arte, Architecture, Cinema, and Dance, there are the Venice Glass Week, dedicated to contemporary glass, and Homo Faber, hosted at Fondazione Cini to celebrate artistic craftsmanship and high-level design.

Its rooms – museums, churches, palaces, foundations – are open spaces for meetings, performances, and site-specific projects. The city renews itself with a program ranging from photography to design to music, with international concerts filling Italy’s most beautiful square, Piazza San Marco, maintaining a constant dialogue between past and future.

Contemporary Venice is a continuous, polyphonic experience: it is not enough to see it, you must live it, guided by someone who understands its many languages.

With San Marco Events, you can discover this vibrant and current side of the city through customizable thematic tours, led by expert guides in contemporary art and architecture, always up to date on current exhibitions and cultural highlights.

This is not a single tour, but a modular path: choose to explore private collections like the Pinault Collection at Punta della Dogana or Palazzo Grassi, the refined Fondazione Prada at Ca’ Corner della Regina, or Carlo Scarpa’s masterpieces at Querini Stampalia and the Olivetti Showroom in St. Mark’s Square.

Want to be surprised by installations, environmental art, and reflections on the future? We will take you to Ocean Space in the Church of San Lorenzo, or to the Giardini and Arsenale pavilions during the Biennale Arte or Biennale Architettura.

• Tailor-made thematic tours: visual arts, photography, architecture, artistic craftsmanship, design
• Access to selected temporary exhibitions, conferences, and cultural events
• Guided tours in foundations, galleries, private collections, and art universities
• Discovery of emerging spaces such as Bevilacqua La Masa, A plus A, Ikona Gallery, Venice Art Factory
• Focus on the city’s annual highlights: Biennale, Venice Glass Week, Homo Faber, and more

We organize private visits to the most prestigious museums and contemporary art foundations in Venice.

Looking for an impactful event? Imagine it within the evocative walls of the Arsenale, or surrounded by the architectural beauty of Punta della Dogana or Ca’ Corner della Regina.

Whether it’s a corporate event, a cultural cocktail, or a VIP experience, San Marco Events turns your occasion into an unforgettable moment.

• Biennale visitors seeking specialist guidance
• Lovers of modern and contemporary art
• Professionals in the cultural and creative industries
• Companies, brands, and teams looking for unique experiences
• Private groups, universities, academies, and art schools

• Accessibility: tailored to every need, also for exclusive events
• Duration: customizable
• Languages: Italian, English, Spanish
• Meeting point: variable, depending on the chosen itinerary