2050+ has designed the exhibition set up and scenography for Penumbra, the first institutional exhibition of Fondazione In Between Art Film, which opened on April 20 at Complesso dell’Ospedaletto in Venice, on the occasion of Biennale Arte 2022.

Taking inspiration from the rarefied atmosphere of Venice and the hybrid architecture of the Ospedaletto and the Church of Santa Maria dei Derelitti, Penumbra is conceived as a stage where images, sounds, and the set design are in reciprocal dialogue with the architecture and history of the venue, and moving images are explored as sites of material and metaphorical transformation.

The group exhibition, which features new videos and filmic productions commissioned to Karimah Ashadu, Jonathas De Andrade, Aziz Hazara, He Xiangyu, Masbedo, James Richards, Emilija Škarnulytė, and Ana Vaz, proposes a reflection on penumbral states of vulnerability and immunity, memory and history, truth and fiction, visibility and opacity – states of mind and corporeal experiences that thrive in the beauty of the uncertain.

The set design by 2050+ responds to the history of the location, while also spatializing the curatorial concept. A series of repetitive structures colonize and react to the heterogeneous assemblage of spaces that make up Complesso dell’Ospedaletto: a layered sequence that ties together the monumental XVI century Church of Santa Maria dei Derelittii; an XVII century helicoidal mineral stair; the illusionistic frescoes of the XVIII century Sala della Musica; and more recent modern adaptations.

Specifically framing and staging each film on display, and reflecting on the interconnected notions of human and architectural anatomy, the set design by 2050+ is conceived as a collection of pieces from a dismembered body, at times enhancing, and at others concealing the existing rooms.

The space-time between one film and another is occupied by darkness, glimpses of light, and fragments of structures, collapsing the distinction between stage and architecture. The visitor is immersed into a cinematic journey through a dormant architecture, floating across past, present and future.

Constructed as a set of modular wooden frames combined with stretched dark fabric, the set design adapts itself to various geometries and layouts, making it possible to dismantle the scenography and readapt it for future uses.

Team:

Exhibition curated by Fondazione In Between Art Film (Alessandro Rabottini and Leonardo Bigazzi)

Exhibition set up and scenography by 2050+ 
(Ippolito Pestellini Laparelli, Francesca Lantieri, Guglielmo Campeggi, Massimo Tenan)

Graphic design by Lorenzo Mason Studio
Installation by ALTOFRAGILE 

With new videos and filmic productions commissioned to Karimah Ashadu, Jonathas De Andrade, Aziz Hazara, He Xiangyu, Masbedo, James Richards, Emilija Škarnulytė, and Ana Vaz.

Photographer: Andrea Rossetti