Italian
On May 5th and 6th, the performance “The Galeazze Project”
The performance by Congolese dancer Faustin Linyekula, presented by Scuola Piccola Zattere, will be accessible for free by reservation at 7 PM on May 5 and 6. Dancing where it has never been done, transforming an abandoned construction site into a stage. On May 5 and 6, 2026, on the occasion of the opening of the Biennale Arte 2026, the Galeazze of the Arsenale Nord in Venice will be opened to the public for the first time for The Galeazze Project, a performance conceived by Congolese artist and choreographer Faustin Linyekula, in collaboration with musician Heru Shabaka-Ra, and curated by Edoardo Lazzari.
The project, presented by the Foundation Scuola Piccola Zattere and Studios Kabako, arises from a process developed in direct relation to the uniqueness of the context. The intervention takes shape from the architecture of the Galeazze, the “exposed” beams of the Northern Arsenal, which constitute one of the most extensive complexes, historically intended for the construction of the fleet of the Serenissima. Their monumental naves, heights, and proximity to the water define an environment that the project reactivates as a space for work and artistic production, making its infrastructural dimension perceivable.
The return of the Galeazze, which for the first time become usable and accessible to the city, is part of a restoration and enhancement process of the space supported by Scuola Piccola Zattere as part of the initiatives promoted by the International Private Committees for the Safeguarding of Venice, and in collaboration with Vela S.p.A, which manages the space.
On Tuesday, May 5 and Wednesday, May 6, at 7 PM, visitors will be able to discover the space by attending a performance – available for free by reservation – that puts in dialogue the current condition of the Galeazze, now a “construction site” in transformation, with the meaning and signs of their history, which emerge, in different forms and ways, during the event. Among the images that traverse the project, the Venetian figure of the còdega, the bearer of light who accompanied bodies in the night, appears. In this context, light is configured as a choreographic and spatial device: it orients, exposes, subtracts, and constructs relationships between bodies and the environment.
The project intertwines artistic production and spatial transformation, creating a shared experience where architecture, choreography, and collective practices meet. At the center is the choreographic practice of Faustin Linyekula, which unfolds in a constant dialogue between body, history, and context. Founder of Studios Kabako in Kisangani, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Linyekula has been developing a research that intertwines choreography, storytelling, and musical practice for years, questioning colonial legacies and the political and social transformations of the territories in which he operates. In this context, the body is configured as an active archive: a place of transmission and rewriting, capable of making sensitive stories often marginalized or erased and activating them in the shared space of performance.
Alongside Linyekula, the project has seen, from the creation stages, the participation of local performers and musicians, such as Cosmogram, a creative hub based in Venice, located in the studio within the former Convent of Saints Cosmas and Damian, dedicated to the development of musical projects between performance, studio practice, and independent record production.
During the performance, the Galeazze take on the form 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 is configured as a work area, while a discontinuous lighting system accompanies the bodies, making them visible or withdrawing them from sight.
In this context, the audience is invited to move within this environment, participating in a situated condition that redefines the relationships between bodies, space, and attention.
