The Boat is Leaking

Intended as a space for experiences and encounters, the exhibition at the Fondazione Prada’s Venetian venue spans film, art and theatre media. #BiennaleArte2017

Fondazione Prada will present “The Boat is Leaking. The Captain Lied.” in its Venetian venue, Ca’ Corner della Regina. This transmedia exhibition project is the result of an ongoing, in-depth exchange between writer and filmmaker Alexander Kluge, artist Thomas Demand, stage and costume designer Anna Viebrock and curator Udo Kittelmann. The exhibition will unfold on three storeys of the 18th century palazzo – the ground floor and the two main ones – and include photographic and film works, as well as spatial settings and loans from private and public collections.

"The Boat is Leaking. The Captain Lied.", exhibition view, Ca’ Corner della Regina, Venice. Photo Delfino Sisto Lignani and Marco Cappelletti, courtesy Fondazione Prada
"The Boat is Leaking. The Captain Lied.", exhibition view, Ca’ Corner della Regina, Venice. Photo Delfino Sisto Lignani and Marco Cappelletti, courtesy Fondazione Prada
"The Boat is Leaking. The Captain Lied.", exhibition view, Ca’ Corner della Regina, Venice. Photo Delfino Sisto Lignani and Marco Cappelletti, courtesy Fondazione Prada
"The Boat is Leaking. The Captain Lied.", exhibition view, Ca’ Corner della Regina, Venice. Photo Delfino Sisto Lignani and Marco Cappelletti, courtesy Fondazione Prada
"The Boat is Leaking. The Captain Lied.", exhibition view, Ca’ Corner della Regina, Venice. Photo Delfino Sisto Lignani and Marco Cappelletti, courtesy Fondazione Prada
"The Boat is Leaking. The Captain Lied.", exhibition view, Ca’ Corner della Regina, Venice. Photo Delfino Sisto Lignani and Marco Cappelletti, courtesy Fondazione Prada
"The Boat is Leaking. The Captain Lied.", exhibition view, Ca’ Corner della Regina, Venice. Photo Delfino Sisto Lignani and Marco Cappelletti, courtesy Fondazione Prada
"The Boat is Leaking. The Captain Lied.", exhibition view, Ca’ Corner della Regina, Venice. Photo Delfino Sisto Lignani and Marco Cappelletti, courtesy Fondazione Prada
"The Boat is Leaking. The Captain Lied.", exhibition view, Ca’ Corner della Regina, Venice. Photo Delfino Sisto Lignani and Marco Cappelletti, courtesy Fondazione Prada

  In a dialogue of polyphonic references and constellations between the contributions of each artist, the exhibition spans film, art and theatre media. The confluence of image spaces and scene settings for a variety of atmospheres transforms the historic palazzo of Ca’ Corner della Regina into a metaphorical site for the identification of the worlds we live in and our personal attitudes towards them.

"The Boat is Leaking. The Captain Lied.", exhibition view, Ca’ Corner della Regina, Venice. Photo Delfino Sisto Lignani and Marco Cappelletti, courtesy Fondazione Prada

Out of this, an exhibition is generated, intended as a space for experiences and encounters. This visually powerful, multi-layered environment bestows expression and meaning on the everyday and on the worlds of yesterday and today, between apparent normality and catastrophe, in a society divided between lust for life and loss of trust, extreme distress and never-ending hope.

"The Boat is Leaking. The Captain Lied.", exhibition view, Ca’ Corner della Regina, Venice. Photo Delfino Sisto Lignani and Marco Cappelletti, courtesy Fondazione Prada


13 May – 26 September 2017
The Boat is Leaking. The Captain Lied.
curated by Udo Kittelmann
Fondazione Prada
Ca’ Corner della Regina
Santa Croce, Venice