Sessizlik / Silence: Ahmet Güneştekin at Palazzo Gradenigo, Venice

Sessizlik / Silence: Ahmet Güneştekin at Palazzo Gradenigo

From 6 May to 1 November 2026, Palazzo Gradenigo in the Castello district of Venice hosts Ahmet Güneştekin’s solo exhibition Sessizlik / Silence. Curated by Sergio Risaliti, the show inaugurates the first two restored floors of the palace and marks the cultural launch of the Güneştekin Foundation.

The exhibition is conceived as an integrated installation combining sculpture and painting: works produced in the artist’s Istanbul studios include eleven large-scale bronze sculptures — some exceeding three metres — and an equal number of oil paintings on canvas and mixed supports.

What to see and why it matters

The bronze figures portray a diverse community: laborers, anonymous visitors and symbolic personae evoking traditional architectural ornamentation. The paintings incorporate restored Anatolian doors and a visual vocabulary that blends geometric shapes with Mediterranean and Mesopotamian motifs, weaving temporal and geographic connections.

• Artist: Ahmet Güneştekin
• Title: Sessizlik / Silence
• Exhibition dates: 6 May – 1 November 2026
• Venue: Palazzo Gradenigo, Castello, Venice
• Curator: Sergio Risaliti
• Works on display: site-specific bronze sculptures and oil paintings

The installation explores silence as listening, historical care and cultural recovery. Recurring motifs — animals, skulls and antique doors — link mythic imagery with everyday reality, generating a dialogue between material presence and symbolic depth.

Practical information

The exhibition occupies the ground and first floors of the palace; some works engage external spaces as well. Restoration on the upper floors continues, with the foundation planning a progressive opening of the building as a new contemporary arts hub in Venice.

• Exhibition period: 6/05/2026 – 1/11/2026
• Location: Palazzo Gradenigo, Castello, Venice (check the palace or Foundation website for opening hours and tickets)
• Support: sponsored by Yıldız Holding in collaboration with 21Art Gallery

This show is recommended for visitors interested in contemporary art that engages with collective memory, identity and the convergence of sculptural and pictorial languages.