Etnia House of Arts is a contemporary art space located within the restored Chiesa dell’Abbazia della Misericordia in Venice and dedicated to artistic experimentation, dialogue and contemporary creativity.
Promoted by Etnia Eyewear Culture – the broader expression of Etnia Barcelona’s cultural research – the project both reactivates a historic space and redefines its function: a living, traversable environment in which art is not only exhibited, but produced, narrated and made visible in the very act of its becoming.
The program unfolds as a continuous and open device, structured through exhibitions, site-specific interventions, performances and talks, each produced in-house or developed in collaboration with key figures from the cultural and artistic landscape. The programming is designed with the aim of configuring a space in which the temporality of artistic work overlaps with that of public experience.
A central element of the project is the international residency program, in which artists staying for two weeks inside the Chiesa dell’Abbazia della Misericordia are invited to work from a deliberately unusual starting point: the eyeglass, understood as a surface of translation, a minimal support through which to question the relationship between vision, identity and representation.
The residencies develop in relation to the space of the Chiesa dell’Abbazia della Misericordia, the city of Venice and visitors who come into contact with the work before, during and after completion.
The first two artists hosted in residence were Conxi Sane and Greta Pllana, who through different languages and sensibilities developed interventions capable of expanding the perceptual and symbolic possibilities of the object.
Membrane by Greta Pllana
Starting from the idea of the membrane as a living, permeable surface, Pllana explores what exists between the visible and the invisible. The work emerges from fragility and care, giving space to experiences that are difficult to put into words.
The Shape I Kept by Conxi Sane
Built from a preexisting frame, the piece emerged through a process of deconstruction and reconstruction. Rather than building upon the original structure, the artist chose to dismantle it and absorb the frame into a new body. The work reflects on social pressure, adaptation and the tension between belonging and preserving one’s essence.
Conxi Sane (Spain, 1986), a Spanish artist working between Berlin and Málaga, develops an abstract practice influenced by Surrealism and Cubism, exploring the subconscious and emotional landscapes. Her work combines intuition and structure, balancing complexity and simplicity, and integrates music as a compositional element. Her pieces translate inner dialogues and shared experiences into a collective reflection on the human condition, weaving rhythm, colour and abstraction into a layered emotional narrative attentive to the dynamics between mind, emotions and personal growth.
Greta Pllana (Durrës, 1992), an artist working in Venice, develops a pictorial practice focused on themes of identity and memory. Her works present suspended images in which tradition is distilled into essential and delicate forms, often traversed by a palette of greens and pinks. Her practice weaves together the intimate and cultural dimensions of the gaze, finding in the eyeglass a recurring and symbolic element: a device through which to observe not only the external world, but also the inner layers of experience. After studying at the Academy of Fine Arts in Venice, she has exhibited in contexts including Bevilacqua La Masa, the National Historical Museum of Tirana and La Giarina Arte Contemporanea.
www.etniahouseofarts.com / @etniahouseofarts
Videography by Laura Sans
Courtesy of Etnia House of Arts
