Art, fashion, antique markets, flowers: Cecilia Canziani's advice
The curator of the Italia Pavilion at the Venice Biennale talks about her favourite addresses and sources of inspiration: from Esther Kinsky's books to the works of Agnes Martin. But also Diane Keaton's looks.
DISTINCTIVE SIGNS OF MY STYLE
Converse All Stars in all seasons, for over twenty years. I have noticed that many curators wear them, because they work well both during the day to set up exhibitions and in the evening for openings (born in 1917 as basketball shoes, they are among the best-selling trainers, 110 euro, customisable model, converse.com).
Sneakers Chuck Taylor All Star Classic in blu navy, CONVERSE (70 €).
LAST OBJECT I PURCHASED AND LOVED
A very thin, almost transparent porcelain coffee cup. I like to look for them in flea markets and compose, over time, a service of different things saved from oblivion. And the coffee in the porcelain changes flavour (Brera antiques market in Milan, third Sunday of the month, @brera_antique_market; Arezzo Antiques Fair, first Sunday of the month, eraantiquaria.org).
Tazzina vintage in porcellana.
And THE NEXT ONE I'M TAKING
About the chairs. One after another all the chairs in my house (they were from the 1950s, I redeemed them from a clearance) are breaking, it must be a sign... Now I'm thinking of the black Mariolina by Enzo Mari (171 euros, at magisdesign.com).
Mariolina, disegnata da Enzo Mari: ispirazione anni Cinquanta estruttura in tubo d’acciaio cromato, MAGIS (170 €).
AN UNFORGETTABLE PLACE WHERE I TRAVELED
The American desert I travelled through Nevada, Utah, New Mexico and California with curator Adrienne Drake. It was a journey of research into female artists who, at different times in the 20th century, left the big cities to find a more congenial way of living and working, such as Georgia O'Keeffe, Agnes Martin, Nancy Holt and Andrea Zittel (shots and works on @adrienne_and_drake).
MUSEUM OR GALLERY THAT I CONSIDER MOST INTERESTING AT THE MOMENT
The MUCIV, Museum of Civilisations in Rome, which is rethinking the way of exhibiting a heterogeneous collection, ranging from prehistory to non-European civilisations, from the early Middle Ages to popular traditions, even through its criticalities - because the story of how an object arrives in a museum is often opaque. And the GAM in Turin, which accords the display of collection and temporary exhibitions to a resonance, a key theme running through all the gallery floors (museodellecivilta.it; gamtorino.it).
LAST MUSIC I DOWNLOADED
Frigobar, by Franco126. With my 14-year-old son we have the habit of listening to his playlist while we get dressed in the morning or in the evening while I prepare dinner and he sets the table. Among the authors we both like are Franco126, Calcutta and De Gregori (Calcutta's tour: from 6/6 in Barcelona, @calcutta_foto_di; @franchino126; @degregoriofficial).
L’album di Franco126 con il singolo “Frigobar.
LAST MEAL THAT IMPRESSED ME
My son cooked a supreme steak two days ago. And then I liked a restaurant in Venice, Koenji, which uses ingredients from the lagoon, but the cuisine is Japanese (koenji-venezia.com).
THE VIEW THAT INSPIRES ME
It is that of a small oil painting by Luca Bertolo in front of my desk. The profile of a mountain sloping down to the sea and a storm sky. It is the landscape of Alta Versilia, where I often spend my summers together with Chiara Camoni, with whom I work for the Italia Pavilion of the Biennale Arte 2026 ("Osservatorio M1", Luca Bertolo's new site-specific work for the eighth edition of Hypermaremma, inaugurated on 4 April at Playa La Torba in Ansedonia, will be visible until 31 August, hypermaremma.com; @luca_bertolo_).
Olio di Luca Bertolo.
THE OBJECT FROM WHICH I WOULD NEVER SEPARATE MYSELF
A ring from Iosselliani representing a panther. I never go out without it and I feel it protects me. It was given to me years ago by my partner, who often gives me presents even if there are no anniversaries (iosselliani.com).
Anello in forma di pantera, IOSSELLIANI
The BEST SOUVENIR I HAVE TAKEN HOME FROM A TRIP
A tiny shard of pottery I found on the ground at Pond Farm in northern California, a community where ceramicist Marguerite Wildenhain, who fled Europe and was inspired by Bauhaus principles, worked and taught (a documentary on the artist can be found at pondfarm.org).
A RECENT DISCOVERY
Esther Kinsky, a writer whose work I am reading everything published in Italia, got to know through two friends, the artist Antonio Rovaldi and the curator Angelika Burtscher. I am really enjoying Perturbazioni, published by Le Lettere. I like its look at landscape and history (15 euros, at lelettere.it).
IN MY Fridge NEVER LACKS
Everything is always missing in my fridge, my son complains about it all the time!
LAST ADDED TO THE GUARDAROBE
A beautiful midnight blue Zegna jacket. I love masculine jackets and soft-touch yarns. I like them in all versions: with a T-shirt, with a skirt... I have so many of them, they are the thing I buy the most, so much so that I often miss the pieces underneath (jacket in navy blue High Performance Jersey, 2,890 euro, zegna.com).
Blazer in jersey, ZEGNA(2.890 €).
And THAT TO BE TRANSMITTED
A powder-coloured lace dress. The fabric belonged to my grandmother, a very elegant woman, who had it made into a dress for my mother. It is a Sangallo lace that is no longer even produced. I have a photo of my mum wearing it and I wore it to my brother's wedding (precious lace on display at the Textile Museum in St. Gallen, Switzerland, textilmuseum.ch).
My favourite room in my home
The kitchen, in spite of the empty fridge. It is in the middle of the house, bright, full of objects I keep moving and with a sofa. In the afternoon a wonderful light comes in and in the evening I cook with the last rays of sun on my back. My sister, who is an architect, designed it.
BEAUTY PRODUCTS THAT NEVER LACK
Sisley Paris ultra-matte red face cream and lipstick and Dyptique's Fleur de Peau perfume (Crème Réparatrice, 50 ml, EUR 186, Phyto-Rouge Velvet 41, EUR 56, sisley-paris.com; Fleur de Peau, 75 ml, EUR 180, diptyqueparis.com).
Fleur de Peau di Dyptique (180 €,75 ml).
My favourite sites and apps
Google Maps: I have no sense of direction. Antinomie and doppiozero for readings and insights. Rai Radio 3 to accompany the day (antinomie.it; doppiozero.com).
MY STYLE ICON
Diane Keaton. For the jackets, the hats, the ties, her way of interpreting clothes and remaining, however, true to herself (a photographic book in which Diane Keaton recounts her fashion choices, from childhood to the looks that made her iconic: Fashion First, Rizzoli, 61 euros, on amazon.it).
The BEST GIFT I HAVE GIVEN
I am famous for beautiful gift certificates that never become reality. Especially to my partner. A TV I never bought him, holidays I never took, etc
“Con te con tutto” di Chiara Camoni per il Padiglione Italia alla Biennale che ha ZEGNA come main sponsor. ©Camilla Maria Santini
And WHAT I RECEIVED
I love receiving gifts - even though I am terrible at giving them - so I say: all of them. My colleague Ilaria Gianni, with whom I promote the non-profit space Iuno, gave me a very delicate silver cornetto with a very fine chain. It is a lucky charm for the Biennale and, so far, it has worked (independent cultural project in Rome, iuno.it).
IF I HAD TO LIMIT MY SHOPPING TO A CITY DISTRICT, I WOULD CHOOSE
I am lazy, I stay in my area of Rome, in Porta Metronia, which retains a neighbourhood dimension, with a strong sense of community and local associations. For clothes, I like Balmas and Bottiglieria. Also on Via Gallia, there is a small shop selling only pens, inks and small notebooks, where I get lost (purchases also via Whatsapp, balmas.it; e-shop at bottiglieria.store).
Flow Forma, stilo in ebaniteocra di SCRIBO (980 €, sustiloestile.com).
The ARTIST I WOULD COLLECT IF I COULD
Agnes Martin. Her paintings are beauty, purity and emotion. We never ask a piece of music to mean anything,' she once said, 'but a painting does, and even that can be pure emotion running through you (to read, Agnes Martin. Paintings, writings, remembrances by Arne Glimcher, Phaidon Editions, EUR 125, at amazon.com).
The BOOK I WOULD HAVE LIKED TO WRITE
Familiar Lexicon by Natalia Ginzburg. One day, as a student in London, I was preparing an exam at the British Library. During a break, I wandered through the Italian literature section and picked it up again: I was overwhelmed with homesickness (Premio Strega in 1963, 13.50 euros, on einaudi.it).
And THE WORK OF ART I WOULD HAVE LIKED TO CREATE
A sculpture by Brâncuși, an indispensable reference point still today for many contemporary artists.
Constantin Brâncusi, “Mademoiselle Pogany I” (1912 1913), in mostra alla Neue National galerie di Berlino fino al 9/8(smb.museum). ©CREDIT FOTO Centre Pompidou, MNAM-CCI/Philippe Migeat/Dist. GrandPalaisRmn, © Succession Brancusi - All rights reserved / VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2025
If I DID NOT LIVE IN ROME I WOULD LIVE...
To Paris, for its museums, exhibitions and to be close to my sister. I love going to the Petit Palais and the Picasso Museum, which is reinterpreted each time through dialogues with other artists, and the Musée d'Orsay (petitpalais.paris.fr; museepicassoparis.fr; musee-orsay.fr).
THE HOTELS I LOVE MOST
I love hotels, all of them, indiscriminately. The most beautiful one I have stayed in is the Taj Mahal Palace in Mumbai. But this summer I also loved the Moxy in Williamsburg: from my room there was a wonderful view (rooms from 260 euros, tajhotels.com; Moxy Brooklyn Williamsburg, room with city view from 272 euros, marriott.com).
Books on my bedside table
Autobiography in Motion, by Deborah Levy, which I received as a gift from a friend with whom I have an intense reading exchange, the artist Sara Basta. I am very interested in authors who retrace their own lives, as is Annie Ernaux (limited edition box set with Levy's three volumes, 38 euros, on nneditore.it; Gli anni, by Annie Ernaux, Nobel Prize for Literature in 2022, 18 euros, on lormaeditore.it).
“Autobiografia in movimento”, l’opera manifesto di Deborah Levy,fonde memoir, riflessione politica e ricerca esistenziale.
The preferred green space in the city
The Caffarella Park, a piece of Roman countryside that penetrates right into the heart of the city (information, map and timetable at caffarella.it/il-parco).
If I DID NOT DO WHAT I DO, I WOULD DO...
The florist, without a doubt. I love flowers and plants. When I am sad I go out and buy myself a bunch of flowers, it gives me happiness.
