Memories of Water, Memories of Air

Memories of Water, Memories of Air is a space where transience is not seen as loss, but as a source of meaning—a lens through which we can reflect on how movement, sound, touch, and taste become vessels for memory and connection. Rooted in the language of impermanence, the programme brings together artists whose practices honour the fleeting and the intangible—gestures, textures, flavours, and rhythms—as portals to presence, transformation, and shared remembrance. By inviting us to gather around these ephemeral acts, the project offers a meditation on how the most momentary acts can shape our sense of belonging and continuity.

This two-day immersive event held at Venice’s iconic Palazzo Contarini Polignac brings together pioneering artists—Monika Błaszczak, felicita, Karolina Łebek, Paweł Sakowicz, Konrad Smoleński, and Rafał Zajko & Zoee—whose works explore the body and ephemerality as sites of memory, ritual, and transformation. Through movement, sound, video, and performance, artists examine our elemental connections to water and air, reflecting on how the disappearance of these essential elements has led them to take on an almost mythical dimension in today’s world. This year’s programme also spotlights local talent, featuring Venice-based ceramic artist Gaetano di Gregorio and Fugaz Collective.

Curated by Kasia Sobucka, the programme engages with themes of cultural erasure, displacement, ancestral healing, corporeal presence and ecological resilience—shaped by the shifting dynamics of natural elements. It is conceived as a living laboratory: a dynamic space where art intersects with environmental urgency. Through performances, installations, and interventions in both historic and public spaces, the programme invites audiences to reflect on what has been lost, what may still be reclaimed. At its core lies a question: can ephemeral arts—a language of the body, movement, and sound—create spaces of remembrance and resilience in times of crisis and instability?

Programme
Day one: Friday, June 27, 6–9pm
Featuring: Karolina Łebek, sanare (video), Monika Błaszczak, Clay (dance performance), felicita, kupalnocka/gry wodne (live music), Gaetano di Gregorio, Water Breaks, Water Builds (ceramics)

Daay two: Saturday June 28, 6–9pm
Featuring: Paweł Sakowicz, Storm (dance performance), Rafał Zajko / Zoee, Denim III (performance and music), Fugaz Collective, Volumen 2 (performative banquet)

Floating: Konrad Smoleński, Waiting Room (video), will be screened on the boat during scheduled times.

Works
Monika Błaszczak, Clay: World premiere of a 35-minute solo dance performance inspired by the malleability of clay and the fragility of the human body.

Paweł Sakowicz, Storm: A visceral solo performance navigating desire, self-perception, and bodily architecture. The dancer's body becomes a reflective surface—an instrument shaped by memory, seduction, and repetition.

Karolina Łebek, sanare: Drawing from personal and historical memory, the artist revisits a journey to a Lemko village in Poland, using the ritual of drinking mineral water as a portal to healing, remembrance, and collective belonging.

Rafał Zajko & Zoee, Denim III: A new performative collaboration remixes Zajko’s earlier works with a live sound composition culminating in the Polish funeral song from Podlasie.

felicita, kupalnocka/gry wodne: A hallucinatory live audio-visual performance channelling diasporic memory, Polish folk motifs, and surrealist pop experimentation.

Gaetano di Gregorio, Water Breaks, Water Builds: His practice is rooted in local materials and engages in dialogue with memory and the environment. 

Fugaz Collective, Volumen 2: A performative banquet invites participants to gather around a shared food ritual, immersing in a communal, multisensory experience.

Tickets: Free entry (RSVP)

Organisers: Arts Territory, Ditto Foundation

Supported by: Palazzo Contarini Polignac, Voelkel Foundation, Polish Institute in Rome

This project is co-financed by the Minister of Culture and National Heritage of the Republic of Poland from the Culture Promotion Fund.

Cultural event of the Polish presidency of the Council of the EU.