After two days of dramatic deluges during the opening days of the Venice Biennale, the skies cleared, the sun shone and on Thursday (7 May) Patrizia Sandretto Re Rebaudengo welcomed visitors to San Giacomo, the lagoon island she and her husband bought in 2018 and have converted into a venue for art, creation and sustainability.
Tiny, resplendent in a bright lime-green coat and dress, Sandretto tirelessly shook hands with hundreds of visitors, from the leading collector Sheikha Al-Mayassa Al Thani of Qatar to other noted invitees such as fashion maven Diane von Furstenberg, philanthropist Maja Hoffmann and curator Julia Peyton-Jones. Sandretto’s long-time curator Hans Ulrich Obrist was there: he had organised Fanfare/Lament, a solo exhibition by Matt Copson, in one of the former munitions storehouses on the island, now converted into exhibition spaces.
The other exhibition space is showing selections from the Sandretto collection, including works by artists such as Michael Armitage (on show at the Palazzo Grassi during the Biennale), Sarah Lucas, Victor Man and Lynette Yiadom-Boakye.
Outside site-specific works are installed, including a shocking pink tree by Pamela Rosenkranz [Old Tree (Pink Seas) 2026] overlooking the lagoon, and a work by Claire Fontaine called Patriarchy = CO2 (2020). There is also Hugh Hayden’s Huff and a Puff (2026), an unsettling small chapel slanted forward by 40 degrees.
Hugh Hayden’s Huff and a Puff (2026) Courtesy Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo; Photo: Jacopo Trabuio
Beside it is a silvery space rocket, Gonogo (2023), apparently ready to take off, by the Polish-born artist Goshka Macuga. On the preview day, airborne sculptures in the form of kites with disembodied eyes fluttered overhead, staring down at the crowd, as part of the Copson show. An orchestra played a fanfare of music composed by Oliver Leith.
“This is the place of dreams, of a daydream come true,” Sandretto said at the inauguration. She was surrounded by some of the artists who had works on show, from Copson to Fulvia Carnevale of the duo Claire Fontaine and Hugh Hayden. “Supporting artists and their creations has always been at the core of the Sandretto Foundation’s mission,” she said.
The site forms the third permanent home for the foundation. It joins the Turin headquarters, opened in 2002 in a former industrial area of the city, and the Palazzo Re Rebaudengo, which has an art park in the hills of San Licerio in Piedmont.
The island has a long history, going back at least 1,000 years. It has over the centuries been a monastery, a stopping point for travelling pilgrims, a vineyard, a vegetable garden and finally a military site; during the Napoleonic era the storehouses served as powder magazines. Sandretto’s project on this land is self-sustaining, she continued, explaining that her husband Agostino’s company Asja, which specialises in renewable energy, is a significant participant in the project.
Apparently, San Giacomo is a unique example in Italy of the relationship between biomuseology—the intersection between biology and museum studies—and conservation.
Sandretto and her family have houses on the island: her son Eugenio said laughingly that the sun came out just in time for the inauguration: “Because we built a chapel!”—referring to the building by Hayden. Access to the exhibitions is free, although initially only during biennales or for guided tours. However, there is a plan to provide an on-request stop at San Giacomo on the 12 vaporetto line.
