Resonance – A Bridge Between Nashville and Venice
Resonance – an invitation to gather, to commune with, to listen deeply – for artists, curators, poets, performers, and scholars whose voices and perspectives resonate across time and geographies.
Extended from their participation in the 61st La Biennale di Venezia by Koyo Kouoh, Vanderbilt University faculty María Magdalena Campos-Pons and Kamal Malak will facilitate a university-sponsored dialogue series about the global future of art. (Vanderbilt University News, April 13, 2026)
In collaboration with the Engine for Art, Democracy & Justice (EADJ) program, Vanderbilt will host Resonance, a palazzo-based laboratory of ideas and art through exhibitions and public programming at Fondazione Giorgio e Armanda Marchesani in Venice, Italy.
Resonance will reimagine the palazetto into a living forum where ideas, artisitic practice, and dialogue unfold over a season of performances, sonic sessions and poetic encounters, conversations and gatherings.
Resonance opens May 10, 2026 and will offer programming and an exhibition through July 10, 2026.
The team behind this event include:
Artistic Directors:
María Magdalena Campos-Pons
Kamal Malak
Curators:
Grace Aneiza Ali
Selene Wendt
The Engine for Art, Democracy & Justice (EADJ) TEAM:
The Engine for Art, Democracy, and Justice is a trans-institutional research initiative founded by Dr. María Magdalena Campos-Pons. It is an ongoing collaboration between Fisk University, the Frist Art Museum, Millions of Conversations, and Vanderbilt University that explores creative approaches to living together in the South(s).
The Team
Danielle Myers
Taylor Raboin
Simon Tatum
Contributing artists in the Resonance Exhibition:
Georges Adéagbo · Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara · Augustín Drake Aldama (1934-2022 ) · Alex Blau · Frank Bowling · LeXander Bryant · Ambreen Butt · Lakesha Calvin · Maurizio Cannavacciuolo · Javier Castro · Christopher Cozier · Patrick DeGuira · Zach Duensing · Jeannette Ehlers · Adama Delphine Fawundu · Raheleh Filsoofi ·LiFran Fort · Donald Guevara · Jana Harper · Alicia Henry (1966-2024) · Mark Hosford · Jessica Ingram · Naiza Khan · Guido Llinás (1923-2005) · Hung Liu (1948-2021) · James Makuac · Aurora Molina · Aïda Muluneh · Danielle Myers · Olu Oguibe · Maggie Otieno · Jerry Phillips · Vesna Pavlović · Dawit L. Petros · Taylor Raboin · Tamara Reynolds · Mason Richards · Evelyn Rydz · Jamaal Sheats · Ming Smith · Simon Tatum · Mouminatou Thiaw · Vadis Turner · Antonio Vidal · John Warren · Carrie Mae Weems · Deborah Willis
Participants, Performers & Speakers:
Samuel Alexander · Molly Barth · Aruna D’Souza · Salah Hassan · Lutz Koepnick · Stephan Köhler · Siddartha Mitter · Táhila Moss · Ricardo Zohn Muldoonon · Emiliano Moncada Zohn
Along with several events that started Sunday, May 10, 2026, Micro-Residencies are planned for the month long stay at the Fondazione Giorgio e Armanda Marchesani.
MICRO-RESIDENCY · SATURDAY, 18 MAY–WEDNESDAY, 23 MAY, 2026
- Vesna Pavlović
Vesna Pavlović is the Paul E. Shwab Chair in Fine Arts and Professor of Art at Vanderbilt University. Showing internationally, Pavlović examines photographic representations of political and cultural histories of the cold war era. Recent publication includes Vesna Pavlović, Stagecraft, 2021.
- WEDNESDAY, 20 MAY, 2026
Searching for a Perfect Sunset (Venice) · Participatory Performance
Join Vesna Pavlović for a guided walk through Venice in search of a perfect sunset. With a Polaroid camera in hand, Pavlović invites us to photograph, write and share a memory. In this meaningful yet futile endeavor, something is lost but a sense of hope, promise and renewal remains.
MICRO-RESIDENCY · THURSDAY, 21 MAY –SUNDAY, 24 MAY, 2026
- Samuel Alexander
Join Sonic Listening Room Sessions with Samuel Alexander and Kamaal Malak. (Dates + Times to be updated)
MICRO-RESIDENCY · MONDAY, 23 MAY – FRIDAY, 29 MAY, 2026
- Jana Harper
Jana Harper, is a research-based multiplatform artist who transforms the burdens of history through gestures of empathy and reciprocity. Her work addresses topics such as the erosion of democracy, U.S. gun policy, Native American sovereignty, and the Rights of Nature.
TUESDAY, 26 MAY, 2026
- 9:00
- Resonance of the Water
Join Jana Harper, whose works Song for the Water and Ancestor Bulletin are featured in Resonance, for a short participatory program honoring La Laguna and the waters of the Veneto.
Keep up to date with programming at https://www.vanderbilt.edu/venice-resonance/.