If All Time Is Eternally Present is the title of the exhibition created through the synergy between Bottega Veneta and the Pier Luigi Nervi Foundation. The project consists of a series of video works by artists Tai Shani, Meriem Bennani & Orian Barki and Kandis Williams, fitting into the Biennale’s extensive program of collateral events between the Giardini and the Arsenale.
Presented by the Pier Luigi Nervi Foundation, If All Time Is Eternally Present takes place in the public square of Campo Manin, transforming the facade of Palazzo Nervi Scattolin into a dynamic urban exhibition space. Here, video works by Shani, Williams, Bennani & Barki will be screened every evening from May 9 to June 7 from 8:30 to 11 p.m.
Founded in 2008, the Pier Luigi Nervi Foundation is dedicated to preserving the legacy of the celebrated architect, engineer and builder. The foundation promotes an active and future-oriented debate on architecture, its materials, meanings and its role in the contemporary world, while also promoting a busy program of cultural events and initiatives.
Bottega Veneta’s sponsorship of the exhibition, under the creative direction of Louise Trotter, stems from the maison’s deep connection with Venice, as well as its longstanding commitment to cultural promotion and dialogue. Through its location in a public space and nighttime fruition, If All Time Is Eternally Present proposes a new model of accessibility and participation in the context of the Biennale, open to all. Curated by Venetians Marta Barina and Chiara Carrera, the project also affirms at the same time the city’s contemporary creative vitality, reflecting its past and present as a unique place of intercultural exchange.
Palazzo Nervi Scattolin, commissioned in 1963 and completed in 1972 by the architect, represents one of the very rare examples of modern architecture in Venice. The structure reflects a lesser-known chapter in the city’s history, when Venice was actively looking to the future, exploring new ideas of social and cultural renewal and engaging in a lively transatlantic dialogue with other urban centers, notably New York. At the same time, Bottega Veneta was being founded in nearby Vicenza in 1966, and then opened its first store on New York’s Madison Avenue in 1973.
If All Time Is Eternally Present traces the energy, openness and optimism of that moment of Venetian modernism, prolonging its spirit of dialogue. In the open square of Campo Manin, the exhibition stages an encounter between contemporary art, Pier Luigi Nervi’s architecture and public space, an encounter also in time between past and present that is of particular relevance in the biennial’s panorama and is poetically reflected in the title. The square thus becomes a meeting point for people, ideas and artistic practices, welcoming perspectives from the artists’ experiences between New York, Rabat, London, Tel Aviv, Baltimore and Berlin, and joining them with those of the viewers.
Going into the specifics of the works, the exhibition brings together new, adapted and existing works: 2 Lizards (2020) by Meriem Bennani & Orian Barki; A Travel Guide: Black Gothic in South Korean Horror (2025), a new work by Kandis Williams; and My Bodily Remains, Your Bodily Remains and All the Bodily Remains that Ever Were and Ever Will Be (2023-2026) by Tai Shani, a new production derived from the 2023 film of the same name.
This collaboration between the Nervi Foundation and the Venetian brand is a virtuous example of a synergy between realities that share roots in experimentation and excellence. Both are investing in the future: the foundation through cultural initiatives and philanthropic activities, Bottega Veneta by supporting and promoting relevant cultural projects, joining forces in this beautiful project.
[📷 Courtesy of Bottega Veneta / © Tai Shani; Courtesy of Bottega Veneta / © Meriem Bennani and Orian Barki]
