Ronald Ventura. Luna
Collateral Event of the 61st International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia

On the occasion of the 61st International Art Exhibition - La Biennale di Venezia, the Filipino artist Ronald Ventura — one of the leading Southeast Asian voices — presents "Ronald Ventura: Luna," a large-scale exhibition bringing together more than a dozen newly realised works. The show, curated by Ruel Caasi and promoted by the organising institutions MUSE Science Museum Trento and Castel Belasi - Contemporary Art Center for Eco Thought, unfolds as a Collateral Event of the Biennale Arte 2026, "In Minor Keys," by the late Koyo Kouoh to stage a vivid dialogue between Venice and Malabon — two water-shaped communities linked by tides, trade, memory and ecological vulnerability.

Conceived as a site-specific intervention at Docks Cantieri Cucchini, "Ronald Ventura: Luna" offers a timely reflection on processes of cross-cultural sedimentation and their historical as well as socio-ecological ramifications. The new body of work thereby continues the artist's multi-faceted exploration of the everyday lived cultural reality in the Philippines, putting the fishing village of Malabon in conversation with the city of Venice. Water as an ambiguous force — both sustaining and destroying life — acts as the bridge between the two places, whose distinct past, present and future are closely tied to the surrounding element. The falling and rising tides, orchestrated by the moon, become the backdrop of a meditation on how local realities can resonate with global concerns. A mythological token and spiritual reference, the astrological body emerges as the anchor for "Ronald Ventura: Luna," as Ronald Ventura explores the moon motif via painting, sculpture and installation. Over the water, the moon presides, rising as a narrative arc to connect Malabon and Venice.

Assembling new works across different genres — from oil paintings to charcoal drawings, from sculptural compositions in resin to sculptures in Murano glass, alongside video installations — Ronald Ventura creates an immersive setting to lend a visually intriguing voice to the strata and layers of history whose implications have continued to shape the complex tangles of identity of the island state. The space of the former shipyard thus becomes the stage for a reflection on pertinent issues related to the ecology of the two cities' aqueous nature, and serves as a starting point for further reflection. Material, memory and metaphor gather and blend into a narrative, speaking through the fragments of a storied everyday whose fractured present resides in the archives of a celestial body above the geographies of two places set amid water.

At its heart, "Ronald Ventura: Luna" then unravels as a contemplation on interconnectedness. From Venice, a meeting point of cultures and trade, to Malabon, a microcosm of the Philippines' precarious survival, Ronald Ventura addresses one of today's most urgent issues: the lost connection between modern society and nature's essential rhythms and values through a careful layering of divergent visual languages. Photorealism blurs into Renaissance grandeur while cartoons converse with the textual debris of classical reference. A pastiche of references in a nod to the complexity of contemporary identity.

Realised in close collaboration with MUSE Science Museum Trento and Castel Belasi – Contemporary Art Center for Eco Thought, the Collateral Event "Ronald Ventura: Luna" moves beyond the exhibition space through a public programme, including a masterclass by the artist. The masterclass is connected to "We Are the Flood," MUSE's creative platform addressing the climate crisis, Anthropocene dynamics, and ecological transition, developed in collaboration with Ronald Ventura Studio and Castel Belasi.

Massimo Bernardi, Director of MUSE, comments: "MUSE's presence in the Biennale Arte 2026, through the work of Ronald Ventura, allows us to explore the great challenges of our time — such as rising sea levels and ecological crises — through a powerful and layered aesthetic language capable of connecting geographically distant realities that share the same vulnerability."... read the rest of the article»