Fondazione Dries Van Noten presents The Only True Protest Is Beauty, on view from 25 April to 4 October 2026 in Venice. Inspired by activist Phil Ochs, the title frames beauty as a catalyst for intensity, provocation, and transformation.

Curated by Dries Van Noten with Geert Bruloot, the Presentation considers craftsmanship as a language of expression and a conduit for emotion. Works from fashion, jewellery, design, art, photography, glass, ceramics, and material experimentation move beyond the boundaries of traditional disciplines, responding to one another to challenge assumptions, unsettle expectations, and reveal the profoundly human dimension of making.

Within the rooms of Palazzo Pisani Moretta, the pieces engage with the building and with each other. As visitors move from the ground floor through the Piano Nobile levels, over two hundred objects resonate with ceilings, frescoes, and ornamental details, forming interactions that unfold with rhythm and intuition. Affinities emerge and contrasts ripple through space, each composition carrying the tension between mastery and discovery, between reflection and provocation. The Palazzo itself becomes an active participant, guiding perception and shaping the relationships between forms, materials, and histories.

Beauty here is not a fixed ideal but a questioning presence. Making becomes a process of discovery, a dialogue that carries the traces of intention and imagination. Visitors move through moments of resonance and disruption, where perception awakens and possibilities unfold, and craft reveals itself as an ongoing process of inquiry and encounter.

Dries Van Noten is calling beauty the ultimate protester. Now, he is assembling an international army of creatives for the debut presentation of his fondazione in Venice

“For me, beauty has always been a way to cope with the world, a way to clear the head, to create order, move forward,” muses Dries Van Noten. The Belgian designer, who exited his fashion house in 2024 after founding it in 1986, is now turning towards a new chapter with the launch of Fondazione Dries Van Noten alongside Patrick Vangheluwe. For someone long preoccupied with beauty, Venice emerged as a fitting point of departure. The foundation, dedicated to promoting craftsmanship as a vital language of cultural identity, opens this month with its inaugural temporary presentation, The Only True Protest Is Beauty. Curated by Van Noten with Geert Bruloot, the showcase brings into dialogue 200 works from both established and emerging voices across fashion, food, architecture, art and design, and offers an interconnected global perspective on today’s craft.

Photo: Matteo de Mayda

Comme des Garçons, Collection Spring/Summer 2024, Headpiece by Julien d’Ys Courtesy of Comme des Garçons — Portrait of Giustiniano Bullo as a child by unknown artist, 18th century.
Steven Shearer Whiskered Sentinel, 2024 UV print on canvas Courtesy of ©Steven Shearer Courtesy the artist, Galerie Eva Presenhuber and David Zwirner
Ann Carrington, Persian Slipper 2026, Courtesy of the artist — Ann Carrington Qiulong, 2026, Courtesy of the artist — Tuscan School, 17th-18th centuries Madonna and child enthroned between the infant Saint John and a musician angel
Virginia Leonard, A Frock Will Hide All Those Sticky Out Bits He Said, 2026, Courtesy of Virginia Leonard and Side Gallery
Christian Lacroix Haute Couture autumn/winter 1997, look 59, wig and headdress arrangement by Fabio Petri, courtesy of Christian Lacroix, STL group. Lionel Jadot Black Moon Chandeliers, 2025, molten plastic with old brass fixture holding a candle, courtesy of Objects With Narratives. Photo: Matteo de Mayda
The ornate 18th-century Rococo wall from Chiara Pisani’s 1740s renovation is adorned with gilded stucco, a mirror and pastoral motifs. Photo: courtesy Fondazione Dries Van Noten
Moodboard reading quotes by Jean Cocteau and Phil Ochs. Photo: courtesy Fondazione Dries Van Noten
Kaori Kurihara Pierrot fleuri, 2025 Stoneware, underglaze decoration, glaze, gilding, silvering Courtesy of the artist. Tessitura Bevilacqua textiles. Photo: Matteo de Mayda
Misha Kahn Flotsam Jetsam, 2017 Aluminum, stainless steel, courtesy of Friedman Benda and Misha Kahn. Arthur Vandergucht Metropolis Cabinet, 2025 Aluminium, rivets, courtesy of Uppercut. Photo: Matteo de Mayda
Ann Carrington Persian Slipper, 2026 Sliver, nickel and steel plated cutlery Courtesy of the artist, Ann Carrington Inferno, 2026 Silver plated bronze, with resin. Steel backing plate Courtesy of the artist
Alexander Kirkeby, Vase, Candelabra and Tumbler, 2026, Courtesy of artists studio and Uppercut —Manifattura Briati Glassware set with the Pisani family crest, 18th century
Misha Kahn Flotsam Jetsam, 2017 Aluminum, stainless steel Courtesy of Friedman Benda and Misha Kahn, Arthur Vandergucht Metropolis Cabinet, 2025 Aluminium, rivets Courtesy of Uppercut, Tuscan School, 16th century CRUCIFIXION WITH THE MOURNING oil on panel
Comme des Garçons collection spring/summer 2025, headpiece by Julien d'Ys, courtesy of Comme des Garçons. Christian Lacroix Haute Couture autumn/winter 2004 Look 37, Wig by Fabio Petri, courtesy of Christian Lacroix, STL group. Kate MccGwire STIFLE, 2008 mixed media with white dove feathers in antique glass dome with black wood base, private collector. Photo: Matteo de Mayda

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