Dardust at the 2026 Venice Biennale: 'SommersiVo' — a sound

Dardust at the 2026 Venice Biennale: 'SommersiVo'

From 9 May to 22 November 2026 the Venice Pavilion presents a new project by composer and pianist Dardust. The installation offers an immersive sonic experience that merges music, technology and urban space, evoking both the visible city and its 'submerged' acoustic layers.

Concept and approach
'SommersiVo' imagines Venice as a dual-dimensional organism: a surface we see and an invisible soundscape beneath. The work focuses on how sound persists and reverberates, using environmental audio and visitor activity as evolving musical material.

Installation highlights

• An autonomous piano sits at the core of the project, performing a score that constantly transforms.
• Artificial intelligence systems analyze ambient sounds and adapt the sonic output in real time.
• Scenography by Paolo Fantin; curated by Giovanna Zabotti.
• Technical partnership with H‑Farm and Cisco, turning the pavilion into an experimental lab for digital art and sound.
• There are scheduled sound events: fixed moments repeated regularly during opening hours, so each visit can offer a distinct experience.

Visitor role
Audience participation is integral: visitors and the sounds they bring into the space actively contribute to the composition, making the visit a collaborative act of creation.

Practical information
Venice Pavilion, 9 May–22 November 2026. Check Biennale opening times and plan your visit to coincide with the scheduled sound events.

Artistic context
Entrusting the Venice Pavilion to a musician like Dardust highlights the Biennale's interest in experimental practices and the integration of digital technology into contemporary art. Concurrently, Dardust continues his Urban Impressionism Tour with shows in Milan, Lisbon, Paris and London.