Koen Vanmechelen at Ancestrale, Two villas on the Brenta Riviera, Venice (IT) — May 12 – June 7, 2026

The Brenta Riviera has always been a place of transit — between Venice and the mainland, between private wealth and open water. This spring, two of its historic villas become sites for new work by Koen Vanmechelen, shown as part of Ancestrale, an arts and culture festival rooted in the landscape and history of the river.

The works on view at Villa Moscheni Volpi and Villa Widmann were first presented at the opening of We Thought We Were Alone, Vanmechelen's major exhibition at Palazzo Rota Ivancich during the 61st Venice Biennale. At Ancestrale, they find a second context — quieter, more intimate, closer to the landscape the work thinks with.

Villa Moscheni Volpi — Wild Gene Via Riscossa 5, Mira

At Villa Moscheni Volpi, Vanmechelen presents Wild Gene — a large-format painting created during the Wild Gene Festival, to the music of Youssou N'Dour, accompanied by a video. The work is rooted in one of the central ideas of his practice: that crossbreeding — of cultures, species, ideas — releases energy rather than diminishing it. The wild gene is what escapes domestication. It is what survives the pressure to conform.

Villa Widmann — Collective Memory Via Nazionale 420, Mira

At Villa Widmann, Vanmechelen shows Collective Memory, a series in which bronze figures rest on stacked encyclopedias of human rights. The work asks what knowledge survives between generations, and in what form. Whether the archive is a foundation or a burden. Whether memory, like the gene, can be inherited and transformed.

Ancestrale Festival — Wild Gene May 23, 2026

On May 23, Koen Vanmechelen gives his lecture Wild Gene as part of the Ancestrale Festival programme. The lecture draws on the same thinking that shapes both works on view — following the wild gene across species, cultures, and generations, and asking what it means to coexist rather than simply cohabit.

Festival access by guest list only.

Reservations: honeybe@ancestralefestival.artwww.ancestralefestival.art

EXHIBTION FACTS

Villa Moscheni Volpi Via Riscossa, 5, 30034 Mira VE, Italië Free admission, with guest list registration Email: info@villamoschenivolpi.com Tue–Fri: 10:00–12:00 / 14:30–16:30 Closed June 2 villamoschenivolpi.com

Villa Widmann Via Nazionale, 420, 30034 Mira VE, Italië €7 (reductions may apply) Tue–Sun: 10:00–13:00 / 13:30–16:30 Reservations: villawidmann@servizimetropolitani.ve.it servizimetropolitani.ve.it/it/villawidmann