After seven months of daily performances, Florentina Holzinger will conclude SEAWORLD VENICE with Closing Étude, taking place on November 21st, 2026 at 7 pm at Venice’s Scuola Grande della Misericordia. Commissioned by Hartwig Art Foundation, the performance marks the final chapter of the artist’s contribution to the Austrian Pavilion at the 61st Venice Biennale, revisiting the project’s recurring themes of water, purification and renewal.
The bell’s final journey through Venice
At the centre of Closing Étude is an object that has accompanied the project since its beginning: a bell recovered from the Venetian lagoon during the Opening Étude. For seven months, it has rung every hour at the Austrian Pavilion, marking time and shaping Holzinger’s live installation. For its final appearance, the bell will travel in a ceremonial procession to the historic Scuola Grande della Misericordia, where performers and collaborators will gather for a collective farewell. As its sound fades and the water ceases to circulate, the project reaches its end.
From bodily matter to a monument for the future
Part of Holzinger’s ongoing Études series, initiated in 2020, SEAWORLD VENICE extends beyond the Giardini della Biennale through choreographic interventions and site-specific performances across the city. Its final chapter gives the project’s exploration of purification rituals and renewal an unexpected material outcome: solid matter is distilled into liquid before re-emerging as a lasting relic.
The material comes from bodily waste collected from visitors to the Austrian Pavilion over the past seven months. Distilled into a durable remnant, it becomes a monument for the future, preserving traces of the thousands of people who encountered the installation. On November 22nd, the resulting object will be unveiled outside the now-closed Austrian Pavilion, extending the work’s final gesture beyond the performance.
Curated by Nora-Swantje Almes, SEAWORLD VENICE is realised on behalf of the Austrian Federal Ministry of Housing, Arts, Culture, Media and Sport. Its Études are commissioned by the Bukhman Foundation, Hartwig Art Foundation and Thaddaeus Ropac Gallery. Following Venice, adapted versions will appear at Gropius Bau in Berlin in March 2027, Kunsthalle Wien in June 2027 and Amant in Brooklyn, New York, in spring 2028.
Admission to Closing Étude is free, with limited-capacity tickets allocated on a first-come, first-served basis. Reservations opened on October 21st via the official SEAWORLD VENICE website.
Florentina Holzinger will be among the contributors to our FW26 issue. Pre-order your copy now.
