Ilya and Emilia Kabakov: Venetian Diary Venice off the beaten track

By Chiara Rimella

It’s well-known that, in spite of its huge number of visitors, Venice’s actual population has been dwindling for decades. And yet there are people who decide to continue living in this complicated place, fighting for its survival as a socially functioning city. In homage to these resilient residents, Emilia Kabakov is staging an exhibition inside the 16th-century palace Ca’ Tron, home to Iuav University, one of Italy’s first architecture schools. Originally conceived with her husband, the artist Ilya Kabakov, who died in 2023, it echoes a project they first brought to the Museum van Hedendaagse Kunst in Ghent back in 1993; here, citizens were asked to contribute their stories and memories of Venice alongside a symbolic object (submissions range from a tin of Baicoli biscuits to toy models of motorboats). It’s a tribute to people who shouldn’t be relegated to the margins of their own hometown, and everyone from children to elders, long-time residents to new arrivals, has been involved. With 500 items and corresponding diary pages, the result is a collective self-portrait.