Charlotte Colbert v Benetkah prepleta polirano jeklo, starodavne simbole in osebne spomine v svet, ki nas spodbuja, da pogledamo onkraj obstoječega in razmislimo o tem, kaj bi še lahko bilo mogoče.
Nekaj še posebej pomenljivega je v tem, da se z deli Charlotte Colbert srečamo prav v Benetkah. To je mesto, za katero se zdi, da obstaja nekje med resničnostjo in domišljijo. Palače se dvigajo iz vode, stoletja stara pročelja odsevajo v kanalih, znani razgledi pa se z gibanjem svetlobe povsem spreminjajo. Benetke že od nekdaj spodbujajo obiskovalce, da pogledajo nekoliko pozorneje. Za Colbert, multimedijsko umetnico in nagrajeno filmsko ustvarjalko, katere delo se razteza med kiparstvom, instalacijami, filmom in nadrealizmom, mesto predstavlja več kot le kuliso. Postane del dialoga.
Fotografija: Caroline Mardon
Fotografija: Marta Buso
Na drugi strani Velikega kanala se razstava nadaljuje v odmaknjenih vrtovih hotela Aman Venice, kjer delo Charlotte Colbert postane intimnejše in bolj duhovno. Med zelenjem stoji Where Angels Live, drevo iz poliranega jekla, okrašeno z votivnimi predmeti, relikvijami, milagrosi in amuleti. Deluje hkrati znano in nemogoče.
Drevesa že od nekdaj povezujemo z življenjem, koreninami, rastjo, zavetjem in povezanostjo. Različica Charlotte Colbert ohranja občutek skoraj svete prisotnosti, vendar ga preoblikuje z zrcalnim jeklom in predmeti, povezanimi z verovanjem in obredi. Delo izhaja iz umetničinih potovanj po Mehiki in romarski poti Camino de Santiago, ki so vplivala na njeno uporabo votivnih predmetov, relikvij, milagrov in amuletov. Z njihovo pomočjo delo Where Angels Live postane razmislek o veri, obredih in človeški potrebi, da predmetom pripisujemo pomen, obenem pa prikliče to, kar umetnica opisuje kot zdravilno moč vere in sveto skrivnost narave.
V kontrastu z živimi drevesi in zelenjem, ki ga obdajajo, kovinsko drevo naravo odseva skozi nekaj, kar je v celoti ustvaril človek. Na njegovih vejah namesto listov visijo predmeti, prežeti s človeškimi pomeni. Ljudje različnih kultur in generacij že od nekdaj iščejo načine, kako dati fizično obliko nečemu, česar ni mogoče preprosto videti, od upanja in zaščite do spomina in vere.
Where Angels Live te obrede umešča v novo pokrajino, ne da bi poskušalo opredeliti samo duhovnost. Namesto tega pušča prostor skrivnosti in gledalčevemu lastnemu razumevanju tega, kaj lahko pomeni verjeti.
Nadnaravne težnje: vrtovi hotela Aman Venice (Fotografija: Marta Buso)
Fotografija: Marta Buso
V bližini Charlotte Colbert poseže po še enem predmetu, ki ga skoraj vsi poznamo iz otroških zgodb: vodnjaku želja. V delu Supernatural Tendencies pa se pravljični motiv spremeni v nekaj bolj psihološkega.
Obred je znan. Postavimo se ob vodnjak, pomislimo na nekaj, kar si resnično želimo, in si nekaj zaželimo. Gre za izjemno preprosto dejanje, pod katerim se skriva ves svet hrepenenja. Colbert vodnjak želja na novo interpretira v odsevni kovini in ga spremeni v prostor namere, upanja in projekcije.
Zrcalna površina delu doda novo razsežnost. Ko se mu približamo z željo, usmerjeno v prihodnost, se hkrati srečamo z lastnim odsevom. Delo tako ne govori le o tem, kaj si želimo, temveč tudi o osebi, ki si to želi.
Kaj naše najgloblje želje razkrivajo o nas? Kakšno prihodnost si zamišljamo in kaj se spremeni, ko začnemo verjeti, da drugačna možnost zares obstaja?
V delu Supernatural Tendencies je čutiti igrivost, vendar se pod pravljičnim motivom skriva globlja povezava z osrednjo idejo razstave. Preden lahko nekaj postane mogoče, si moramo morda najprej dovoliti, da si to sploh zamislimo.
Nekje obstaja svetloba: vrtovi hotela Aman Venice (Fotografija: Marta Buso)
Eden najbolj sugestivnih naslovov razstave pripada delu There Is Light Somewhere, skulpturi v obliki svetilke, postavljeni v vrtovih hotela Aman Venice.
Svetilka je preprost predmet, vendar njen namen dobi pravi pomen šele v temi. Prav ta odnos daje skulpturi čustveno moč. Delo svetlobe ne predstavlja kot zanikanje teme ali negotovosti, temveč dopušča, da obe obstajata hkrati.
Včasih je pot pred nami vidna, drugič ne. Včasih potrebujemo le toliko svetlobe, da lahko verjamemo, da se pot nadaljuje.
V okviru razstave Possible Landscapes svetilka postane simbol možnosti. Nakazuje, da lahko nekaj obstaja, še preden smo to sposobni jasno videti. V tej misli se skriva tiho upanje.
Morda ne vemo vedno, kam nas bo pot pripeljala, vendar nam možnost svetlobe daje razlog, da še naprej iščemo.
Niti naključnih odkritij: vrtovi hotela Aman Venice (Fotografija: Marta Buso)
Doživetje se skozi delo Strings of Serendipity, serijo visečih obeskov, razporejenih po pokrajini, širi še globlje v vrtove.
Namesto da bi se pojavili kot en sam monumentalen objekt, se ti manjši elementi obiskovalcem razkrivajo postopoma med njihovim gibanjem skozi prostor. Eden izmed njih lahko ujame svetlobo med vejami, drugi pa se nepričakovano prikaže iz drugačnega zornega kota.
Njihova postavitev v razstavo vnaša idejo naključja. Serendipnost opisuje tista nepričakovana srečanja ali odkritja, ki dobijo pomen, čeprav niso bila nikoli načrtovana.
To so trenutki, ki lahko spremenijo pogovor, odnos, potovanje ali celo smer življenja.
Fotografija: Marta Buso
Svet, ki se zrcali nazaj k nam
Ti nadrealistični objekti morda izhajajo iz mitologije, sanj, obredov in domišljije, toda njihove zrcalne površine nas vedno znova vračajo v resničnost. V njih se pojavijo Benetke, vrtovi in nazadnje tudi mi sami.
Gledalec tako nikoli ne ostane povsem zunaj umetniškega dela. Ko stopimo pred eno od skulptur Charlotte Colbert, naš odsev postane del njene površine, četudi le za trenutek.
Tako se ustvari zanimiv odnos med domišljijo in resničnostjo. Namesto da bi ju predstavila kot nasprotji, jima Colbert omogoči, da zavzameta isti prostor.
Ta odnos že dolgo zaznamuje njen širši ustvarjalni opus. V svojih delih raziskuje pripoved, identiteto, sanje, čas in nezavedno, pri tem pa pogosto uporablja nadrealistične in fantazijske podobe, da bi znova pogledala svet, za katerega mislimo, da ga že razumemo.
Za Colbert je ustvarjalnost tudi način soočanja z negotovostjo. Kot pojasnjuje: »Polna sem zmede, dvomov in vprašanj. Mislim, da prav zato vedno znova čutim potrebo po ustvarjanju, da bi bila vsaj nekoliko manj zmedena.«
Fotografija: Ugo Carmeni
Zamišljanje tega, kar prihaja
Benetke tem idejam ponujajo nenavadno poetičen dom. Tudi same so mesto, ustvarjeno z izjemnim dejanjem domišljije in vztrajnosti, zgrajeno na vodi ter nenehno preoblikovano z odsevi, gibanjem in časom.
Na tem ozadju nam Colbert predstavi oko, zazrto navzven, lok, ki vodi v neznano, drevo s simboli vere, vodnjak želja, poln hrepenenja, in svetilko, ki namiguje, da nekje še vedno obstaja svetloba.
Noben od teh predmetov ne ponuja dokončnega odgovora in morda je prav v tem njihova moč. Colbert gledalcem pušča dovolj prostora, da v delo vnesejo lastne spomine, prepričanja in domišljijo.
Razstava Possible Landscapes tako ni toliko pobeg iz resničnosti kot povabilo, da jo premislimo na novo.
Morda pokrajine prihodnosti še ne obstajajo nekje, kjer čakajo, da jih odkrijemo. Morda si jih moramo najprej zamisliti.
Fotografija: Ugo Carmeni
Fotografija: Ugo Carmeni
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Beyond the Visible: Inside Charlotte Colbert’s Possible Landscapes
In Venice, Charlotte Colbert turns polished steel, ancient symbols and personal memory into a world that asks us to look beyond what is already there and consider what might still be possible. There is something especially fitting about encountering Charlotte Colbert’s work in Venice. It is a city that already seems to exist somewhere between reality and imagination. Palaces rise from the water, centuries old façades shimmer in the canals below them, and familiar views change completely as the light moves across the city. Venice has always encouraged those who pass through it to look a little more closely. For Colbert, a multimedia artist and award winning filmmaker whose work moves between sculpture, installation, cinema and the surreal, the city becomes more than a backdrop. It becomes part of the conversation.
Photo: Caroline Mardon
Photo: Marta Buso
Photo: Marta Buso
Presented during La Biennale di Venezia, Possible Landscapes unfolds across two extraordinary locations, Palazzo Corner della Ca’ Granda and Aman Venice at Palazzo Papadopoli.
Curated by Yasmine Helou and organised by Chiara Bordin, the exhibition brings together a series of large scale stainless steel works created specifically for Venice.
Moving between dream and reality, nature and mythology, spirituality and personal memory, the sculptures invite us into Colbert’s distinctive world, one where familiar objects suddenly carry different meanings and imagination becomes something far more powerful than fantasy.
At the heart of the exhibition is a question that has long interested Colbert: how much of the world around us exists because somebody first imagined it?
Cities, clothes, traditions, political systems and cultural structures all began as ideas before becoming part of everyday life. For Colbert, this gives imagination a kind of responsibility. It is not simply a place to escape to. It is where possibilities begin.
As she explains, “Collective imagination is the basis of the structures we live in, and we can’t let those be taken away from us. We have to imagine our own futures, not let them be imagined for us.”
That idea quietly connects every work in Possible Landscapes.
Photo: Marta Buso
The journey begins on the Grand Canal, where the monumental sculpture that gives the exhibition its name rises against the historic façade of Palazzo Corner della Ca’ Granda.
Possible Landscapes takes the form of a vast polished steel arch crowned by a single eye. The image is immediately striking, but its meaning unfolds gradually.
For Colbert, the eye represents consciousness, vision and creative potential. The arch beneath it becomes a threshold, a passage between what we know and what we might imagine, between the external world around us and the private landscapes that exist within us.
Photo: Ugo Carmeni
There is an almost surreal tension between the sculpture and its surroundings. Its smooth contemporary surface stands against centuries of Venetian architecture, yet because the steel is reflective, Venice itself enters the work.
Water moves across its surface as passing boats appear and disappear, the sky shifts and fragments of the surrounding palace become distorted within the metal. Nothing stays completely still, and that constant change seems central to Colbert’s vision.
What appears fixed can always be seen differently depending on where we stand. The sculpture does not tell us what exists on the other side of the arch. Instead, it leaves that space open, allowing us to imagine it for ourselves.
For the opening of the exhibition, musician Birdy created a lyrical soundscape in collaboration with Colbert, bringing another dimension to the installation and extending the experience beyond the purely visual.
Photo: Marta Buso
Photo: Marta Buso
Across the Grand Canal, the exhibition moves into the secluded gardens of Aman Venice, where Colbert’s work becomes more intimate and spiritual. Among the greenery stands Where Angels Live, a polished steel tree adorned with votive forms, relics, milagros and amulets. It feels at once familiar and impossible.
Trees have long carried associations with life, roots, growth, shelter and connection. Colbert’s version retains that sense of something almost sacred, while transforming it through mirrored steel and objects associated with belief and ritual.
The work draws from Colbert’s own journeys through Mexico and along the Camino de Santiago, experiences that informed her use of votive objects, relics, milagros and amulets. Through them, Where Angels Live becomes a meditation on belief, ritual and the human impulse to place meaning in objects, while evoking what Colbert describes as the healing power of belief and the sacred mystery of nature.
Against the living trees and foliage surrounding it, Colbert’s metallic tree creates an unexpected contrast, reflecting nature through something entirely human made. Its branches do not grow leaves, but instead carry objects filled with human meaning.
Across cultures and generations, people have found ways to give physical form to things that cannot easily be seen, from hope and protection to memory and belief. Where Angels Live brings those rituals into a new landscape without attempting to define spirituality itself. Instead, the work leaves space for mystery and for the viewer’s own understanding of what belief can mean.
Supernatural Tendencies: Gardens of Aman Venice (Photo: Marta Buso)
Photo: Marta Buso
Nearby, Charlotte Colbert turns to another object almost everyone recognizes from childhood stories: the wishing well. In Supernatural Tendencies, however, the fairy tale becomes something more psychological.
The ritual is familiar. We stand beside a well, think of something we truly want and make a wish. It is an extraordinarily simple act, yet beneath it lies an entire world of desire. Colbert reimagines the wishing well in reflective metal, transforming it into a place of intention, hope and projection.
Its mirrored surface adds another dimension. As we approach the object carrying a wish for the future, we also encounter our own reflection. The work therefore becomes not only about what we want, but also about the person doing the wishing.
What do our deepest desires reveal about us? What future are we imagining, and what changes when we begin to believe that another possibility might truly exist?
There is a sense of playfulness in Supernatural Tendencies, but beneath its fairy tale reference lies a deeper connection to the exhibition’s central idea. Before something can become possible, perhaps we must first allow ourselves to imagine it.
There Is Light Somewhere: Gardens of Aman Venice (Photo: Marta Buso)
One of the exhibition’s most evocative titles belongs to There Is Light Somewhere, a sculptural lantern situated within the gardens of Aman Venice.
A lantern is a simple object, but its purpose only becomes meaningful when darkness exists, and that relationship gives the sculpture its emotional resonance. Rather than presenting light as a denial of darkness or uncertainty, the work seems to allow both ideas to exist together.
There are moments when the path forward is visible and moments when it is not. Sometimes all that is needed is enough light to believe the path continues.
Within Possible Landscapes, the lantern becomes a symbol of possibility, suggesting that something can exist even before we are able to see it clearly. There is an understated sense of hope in that idea.
We may not always know where a path will lead, but the possibility of light gives us a reason to continue looking.
Strings of Serendipity: Gardens of Aman Venice (Photo: Marta Buso)
The experience extends further into the gardens through Strings of Serendipity, a series of suspended pendants dispersed throughout the landscape.
Rather than appearing as one monumental object, these smaller elements reveal themselves gradually as visitors move through the space. One piece may catch the light between the branches, while another appears unexpectedly from a different viewpoint.
Their placement introduces the idea of chance into the exhibition. Serendipity describes those unexpected encounters or discoveries that become meaningful despite never having been planned.
They are the moments capable of altering a conversation, a relationship, a journey or even the direction of a life.
Photo: Marta Buso
Placed throughout the garden, the pendants encourage visitors to pay attention to what might otherwise be overlooked.
They extend Colbert’s idea of the possible landscape beyond a single sculpture or place.
Sometimes another landscape is not somewhere far away. It appears when we begin looking differently at the world already around us.
A World Reflected Back at Us
Photo: Ugo Carmeni
One of the most compelling aspects of Possible Landscapes is Colbert’s use of polished stainless steel.
These surreal objects may emerge from mythology, dreams, ritual and imagination, but their mirrored surfaces continuously return us to reality. Venice appears within them, the gardens appear within them and, eventually, so do we.
The viewer therefore never remains completely outside the artwork. Stand before one of Colbert’s sculptures and your own reflection becomes part of its surface, even if only momentarily.
It creates an intriguing relationship between imagination and reality. Rather than presenting the two as opposites, Colbert allows them to occupy the same space.
That relationship has long run through her wider practice. Her work explores narrative, identity, dreams, time and the unconscious, often using surreal and fantastical imagery as a way of looking again at a world we think we already understand.
For Colbert, creativity is also a way of working through uncertainty. As she explains, “I’m full of confusion and doubts and questions. I guess that’s why I keep wanting to make stuff, to try and be a little bit less confused.”
Photo: Ugo Carmeni
Her creative language also extends into film. Her debut feature, She Will, received international acclaim and won the Golden Leopard for Best First Feature.
Colbert is now in post production on her second feature, Becoming Capa, written and directed by her and starring Esther McGregor, Mark Eydelshteyn, Danny Huston and Clémence Poésy.
The film tells the story of legendary war photographers Gerda Taro and Robert Capa, bringing Colbert once again to questions surrounding storytelling, memory and the power of images to influence the way we understand reality.
Whether through cinema or sculpture, images are never simply decorative in Colbert’s world. They carry ideas, create narratives and sometimes allow us to imagine something that did not seem possible before.
Imagining What Comes Next
Photo: Ugo Carmeni
Venice provides an unusually poetic home for these ideas. It is itself a city created through an extraordinary act of imagination and endurance, built on water and continually transformed by reflection, movement and time.
Against that backdrop, Colbert gives us an eye looking outward, an arch leading somewhere unknown, a tree carrying symbols of belief, a wishing well holding desire and a lantern suggesting that somewhere there is still light.
None of these objects provides a definitive answer, and that may be precisely their power. Colbert leaves enough space for viewers to bring their own memories, beliefs and imagination into the work.
Possible Landscapes ultimately feels less like an exhibition about escaping reality than an invitation to reconsider it.
Perhaps the landscapes of the future do not already exist somewhere, waiting for us to discover them. Perhaps we have to imagine them first.
Photo: Ugo Carmeni
Photo: Ugo Carmeni
Odnosi z javnostmi: Monarch Global Agency, @monarchglobalagency.com Possible Landscapes Model: Charlotte Colbert @colbertcharlotte Predstavljeno v času Beneškega bienala Lokaciji: Palazzo Corner della Ca’ Granda in Aman Venice, Palazzo Papadopoli 6. maj–30. september 2026 Fotografa: Marta Buso @marta_buso_photography in Ugo Carmeni @ugocarmeni_studio Besedilo: @monarchglobalagency
