PALAZZO PEOPLE: “Art is the greatest form of hope, and offers the greatest potential for shared meaning,” said Yana Peel, global head of arts and culture at Chanel as she toasted a flock of young artists, friends and philanthropists at Palazzo Malipiero at the 60th edition of the Venice Art Biennale, which officially kicks off on Saturday and runs until Nov. 24.
Peel and her team layered on art — and craft — at the dinner, which took place earlier this week during the Biennale preview. Guests, including winners of this year’s Chanel Next Prize and the multimedia artist Julien Creuzet, who the Chanel Culture Fund is supporting at the Biennale, feasted on food — and Venetian culture.
They dined at a custom-built, Rococo, wave-shaped table that matched the Rococo walls of the palazzo’s piano nobile, the first, grandest floor of an Italian mansion. The dinner table was lined with black linen, overlaid with Italian lace, and set with custom-made Murano glass tableware.
Papier-mâché candle holders were made and hand-painted by local experts in Venetian mask making. Guests sat on rare, vintage Chiavari gold patina chairs from the 1970s, and dined on food created in collaboration with Arrigo Cipriani and Harry’s Bar.
Guests included Chanel Next Prize winners and industry figures Nicolas and Olivier Berggruen, Sadie Coles, Nicholas Cullinan, Cornelia Guest, Maja Hoffmann, Tristram Hunt, Jay Jopling, Vicky Krieps, Peter Marino, Hans-Ulrich Obrist, Elizabeth Saltzman, and Gong Yan.
Vicky Krieps at the Chanel dinner during the Venice Art Biennale preview.
Earlier this year the Chanel Culture Fund had revealed its support of Creuzet and the Next Prize winners. The fund, which was set up in 2021, is aimed at supporting creative pioneers and working with international museums and institutions open to showcasing art in innovative ways.
The fund is built on the brand’s tradition of patronage and Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel’s role in supporting the arts.
During the dinner Peel described Creuzet as “a titan, poet, scholar, educator, and artist of the greatest talent” and said that supporting him in Venice “is the greatest privilege for the house of Chanel.”
Chanel’s support of Creuzet is the brand’s biggest moment at the Venice Biennale since Zaha Hadid designed the 2008 mobile art pavilion for the French company.
Peel also toasted the latest winners of the Chanel Next Prize, hailing their “creativity, courage and audacity,” adding they “arrived as strangers to a Biennale. Yet art, culture, and a drive to make can turn foreigners into friends. Tonight is further proof of that.”
Last month Peel revealed the 10 winners of the coveted Chanel Next Prize, which recognizes up-and-comers in international arts and culture.
Chanel hands the award to “artists who are redefining their disciplines” and who embody the brand’s mission “to advance the new and the next.”
This year’s winners originate from six countries across four continents, including the U.K., U.S., Ireland, Brazil, Singapore and Georgia. They work across visual art, film, dance, video game design, performance, opera and digital art.
For the second edition of the prize, each winner received 100,000 euros in funding, “allowing them to fully realize their most ambitious artistic projects,” according to the brand.
Winners will also have access to a two-year mentoring and networking program facilitated by cultural partners of the house, including the Royal College of Art in London.