05/05 — 06/05/2026, 07.00 PM
The Galeazze Project
Faustin Linyekula
05/05 — 06/05/2026, 07.00 PM
Performance
On May 5 and 6, 2026, the Galeazze of the Arsenale Nord in Venice will host The Galeazze Project, a performance by Faustin Linyekula, in collaboration with musician Heru Shabaka-Ra, curated by Edoardo Lazzari.
The project takes shape from the architecture of the Galeazze, adopting their scale and material characteristics as central elements of the creation. Historically used for building the fleet of the Serenissima, their monumental naves are reactivated as a space for artistic production. Among the project’s imagery appears the còdega, the Venetian light-bearer: light becomes a choreographic device that guides, reveals, and constructs relationships between bodies and environment.
Linyekula’s practice—founder of Studios Kabako in Kisangani, Democratic Republic of the Congo—interweaves choreography, narration, and music, engaging with colonial legacies and political transformations. The project involves local performers and musicians in a collective, site-based collaboration, shaping a temporary workshop where rehearsals and performances coexist. The audience is invited to move through this environment, redefining relationships between bodies, space, and attention.
The performance is presented by Scuola Piccola Zattere and Studios Kabako, with the participation of Cosmogram. The event is realized in institutional collaboration with Vela S.p.A. and forms part of a broader restoration and enhancement process supported by Scuola Piccola Zattere within the framework of initiatives promoted by the International Private Committees for the Safeguarding of Venice. Special thanks to Boscolo Bielo for technical sponsorship.
INFO
Admission is free upon registration.
• May 5, 7.00 PM
• May 6, 7.00 PM
Access to the event is subject to reading the safety notice.
We kindly recommend arriving before the scheduled start time to ease access procedures.
For more information: [email protected]
HOW TO GET THERE
The Galeazze are located inside the Arsenale Nord in Venice. Two access points are available:
• Celestia — vaporetto stop (lines 4.1, 4.2, 5.1, 5.2), followed by the Calle Giazzo footbridge to the venue.
• Shuttle from the Biennale — service available before the event for those coming from the Biennale spaces in the Arsenale Sud. Meeting point: Giardino delle Vergini.
THE GALEAZZE PROJECT
The project involves local performers and musicians from the earliest stages of creation, shaping a site-based collaboration in which practices and skills are interwoven. The collective dimension is a structural component of the work and contributes to defining its form.
The intervention takes the shape of a temporary construction site: materials, platforms, scaffolding, and light sources outline an environment in continuous transformation, where rehearsals and performances coexist. The spatial intervention, developed by Cosimo Ferrigolo and Dirk Bell, organizes a dynamic and operational space. The ground becomes a working surface, while a discontinuous lighting system accompanies the bodies, making them visible or withdrawing them from view.
The audience is invited to move within this environment, taking part in a situated condition that redefines the relationships between bodies, space, and attention.
For the first time, the Galeazze are accessible to the public in this configuration, making the very process of their reactivation visible. The project intertwines artistic production and spatial transformation, creating a shared experience in which architecture, choreography, and collective practices meet.
