On Friday 20 November Bottega Cini hosts a special screening of the documentary Éphémère: la bellezza inevitabile (Éphémère: the inevitable beauty), dedicated to Franco Maria Ricci.

The documentary, winner of the Best Documentary Award at the Salento International Film Festival in 2018, follows Ricci through the bamboo corridors of his labyrinth and the rooms of his art collection as he tells his own story in an unconventional, non-exhaustive biography: a long series of emotions, memories of surreal adventures, encounters and deep, lasting friendships. The meaning of the documentary, like that of Franco Maria Ricci’s personal story, unfolds in a movement marked by oxymorons, dichotomies and opposites: Parma and the international jet set; the classical elegance of the line and his art collection, eclectic and open to the irrational; the fantastic and Enlightenment reason; craftsmanship, precious and popular, and art, aristocratic and elitist. These contrasts, never presented in a fully explicit form, are identified not as elements overcome by a synthesis, but as the sign and hallmark of the protagonist’s complex, multifaceted personality.

The director, Simone Marcelli, will attend the screening.

Free admission until seats run out.
To reserve a seat, send an email to info@bottegacini.it

On Friday 11 September at 6 pm, the lecture “Erté and Cinema” by Valerio Terraroli explores Erté’s work in the creation of costumes for film and theatre during the golden age of Art Déco.

A set designer, costume designer and one of the most versatile and visionary visual artists of the twentieth century, Erté was able to blend the decorative and symbolic elements of modernity between the two world wars into an unmistakable language. His drawings, with their sophisticated geometries and impossible elegance, capture the changing styles and the unattainable world of the divas, as well as the dialogue between haute couture and mass culture.

Valerio Terraroli is a full professor at the University of Verona. He has curated countless exhibitions, among the most recent Art Déco, il trionfo della modernità (Art Déco, the Triumph of Modernity) at Palazzo Reale in Milan (2025) and Erté. Lo stile è tutto (Erté. Style is Everything) at the Labirinto della Masone in Fontanellato (2026).

Followed by a vin d’honneur with sparkling wine from Freccianera Franciacorta.

Friday 11 September, 6:00 pm
Bottega Cini
Admission is free, subject to availability.
To book, please email fmr@francomariaricci.com

Erté, lo stile è tutto

From September 10 to 20, 2026, Bottega Cini will host the first public presentation of the project Perle di luce, accompanied by a program of thematic meetings, workshops, and live demonstrations, realized in collaboration with the heritage community and local partners.

Perle di Luce is a photographic project developed by Mattia Gaido in collaboration with the CPVV Committee, devoted to the Art of Venetian Glass Pearls, recognized as Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO. As part of The Venice Glass Week 2026 and on the occasion of Homo Faber 2026, the initiative offers a path dedicated to the enhancement, transmission, and contemporary interpretation of a craft heritage deeply rooted in Venetian cultural identity.

From September 10 to 20, 2026, on display at BOTTEGA CINI, Dorsoduro 734, Venice – Open from 10:00 to 18:00

• Tuesday, 15 September
  15.00 – 17.30 at Bottega Cini
  Workshop on creating pearl flowers with Holly Parr, artist.
  Event by reservation: cpvv.ve.pr@gmail.com>
  
  
• Friday, 18 September
  from 17.00 at Bottega Cini
  – Pearls of Light tells. Evening presentation of the project by CPVV
  – Dialogue among artisans involved in the project, the The Place of Wonders Foundation, and photographer Mattia Gaido;
  – Presentation of the work RE-blooming in the Lagoon by Holly Parr;
  – Presentation of the multimedia installation created by the Albertina Academy of Fine Arts in Turin;
  – Demonstration of the Glass Pearl Art;
  – Guided tours and in-depth talks.
  
  
• Sunday, 20 September
  – Last day of public opening
  – Guided tours with author Mattia Gaido and the CPVV Committee.

Perle di luce

Pearls of light

A visual narrative dedicated to the art of Venetian glass beads. A preview of the exhibition opening in September as part of Homo Faber and The Venice Glass Week. A demonstration of the Art of the Glass Bead, a meeting with the project’s artisans and with the photographer

No fly zone

Through the metaphor of a fly, an observer endowed with a manifold gaze, the artist Resi Girardello presents again a performance that invites reflection on the absurdity of contemporary wars and on the risk that they may wipe out the progress built at an international level for the protection of the planet. Ninety-two participants are called to walk with a fly created by the artist. “Venezia NON è un pesce” (Venice is NOT a fish) is an invitation to change one’s outlook: to understand, even through the microcosms of living beings, that safeguarding the Earth and building peace belong to the same horizon.

Art Night Venezia

Within the cultural context of the installation for the Biennale “FEMME FATALE – Global swarmer”, conceived by the artist Resi Girardello and curated by Gloria Vallese, designed as an outdoor, temporary and reversible contemporary art intervention able to engage in dialogue with the architecture of the Museo Storico Navale di Venezia (the Naval History Museum of Venice) without altering its structure or identity, from 5 May “Venezia NON è un pesce” (Venice is NOT a fish) is presented at the same time at Bottega Cini.

Resi Girardello

On Wednesday 10 December, at Bottega Cini (a few steps from the Accademia Bridge), the meeting dedicated to the award ceremony for the young people who took part in the educational and cultural project “Dipingiamo la Libertà a Venezia” (Painting Freedom in Venice) takes place, promoted by Nadia De Lazzari, representative of the Associazione Venezia Pesce di Pace, in collaboration with the Scuola Grande di San Teodoro, Fondazione Archivio Vittorio Cini and BCC Veneta.
The project, which led to the exhibition at the Scuola Grande di San Teodoro (38 paintings and 28 original sketches), involved women detainees of the Giudecca Women’s Prison and students of the Liceo Artistico Statale Marco Polo and of the Istituto Comprensivo Francesco Morosini.

Present are:
• Giovanni Alliata, president of the Fondazione Archivio Vittorio Cini, who purchased the original work “24 mani” (“24 Hands”), a mosaic of paintings created by the students of class 4F of the Marco Polo art school, telling the stories of 24 women detainees;
• Professor Eddy Bettiol of figurative arts, who will accompany his class;
• Roberta Di Mambro, Guardian Grando, who will announce a new initiative dedicated to young artists.

An immersive experience at Bottega Cini in Venice, to rediscover the journey of Marco Polo, a journey that endures through time and heralds new projects.
Marco Polo, traveller and ambassador of knowledge, left us a legacy of openness and cultural dialogue. With “Visioni Condivise” (Shared Visions), visitors will be able to embark on a journey of discovery along the ancient routes travelled by the great Venetian merchant.

• Explore the historical miniatures
• Fabrics and garments between East and West
• Imaginary dialogues
• Leaf through manuscripts and works
• Symbols of the Venetian tradition
• Venice 360°

Fondazione Archivio Vittorio Cini

The historical, documentary and photographic exhibition pays tribute to Vittorio Cini (Ferrara, 20 February 1885 – Venice, 18 September 1977), described by Indro Montanelli as «the last Doge of Venice». A patron and philanthropist, a curious man and a lover of beauty, Cini was also one of the most astute collectors of the twentieth century.

The exhibition follows a chronological path: from the inheritance of some trachyte quarries in the Veneto and some land in the Ferrara area, the move to Venice, entry into the “Venetian group” of which he was the “financial mind” in the period following the First World War, alongside his “brotherly friend” Giuseppe Volpi. His industrial activities developed mainly in the financial, steel, electrical, maritime, tourism and insurance sectors. The exhibition presents the dramatic events of the Second World War and the great moments of patronage up to his death.

Press
• Vita e opere di Vittorio Cini, nel cuore di Venezia (The life and works of Vittorio Cini, in the heart of Venice), by Barbara Marengo, Ytali, 15 October 2024

Fondazione Archivio Vittorio Cini