Therme Art Supports Three Projects at 17th Biennale Architettura

Therme Group’s cultural incubator Therme Art Announced its Involvement in Three Projects at the 17th International Architecture Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia

Therme Art, the cultural incubator of global wellbeing leader Therme Group, supported three major projects at the 17th International Architecture Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia. The development followed a series of recent partnerships with innovative groups working across culture, science and urban planning, highlighting Therme Art’s commitment to imaginative art projects focused on sustainability, inclusivity and wellbeing.

As Platinum Partner of the British Pavilion, Therme Art supported the British Council commission, The Garden of Privatised Delights, an exhibition that invited leading architects and designers to consider and reimagine public space. This followed Therme Art’s support of the British Pavilion at the 16th International Architecture Exhibition (2018) and the 58th International Art Exhibition (2019). Co-Curated by Madeleine Kessler and Manijeh Verghese (Unscene Architecture), The Garden of Privatised Delights explores questions of inclusivity, privatisation and public space, and resonates deeply with Therme Group’s mission of creating urban spaces for all.

The Garden of Privatised Delights inspired by The Garden of Earthly Delights by Hieronymus Bosch
© Madeleine Kessler & Manijeh Verghese, Unscene Architecture

In the Italian Pavilion, Therme Art supported Mutual Aid, an installation by Pnat, the think-tank of designers and plant scientists led by Stefano Mancuso, the influential author, founder of the study of plant neurology, and close collaborator of Therme Art. Exhibited within the framework of the exhibition Resilient Communities, Mutual Aid proposed an inventive integration of nature within a more sustainable view of urban life.

Pnat, Mutual Aid (2020, installation view)

Finally, in the Giardini’s Central Pavilion, Therme Art supported Resurrecting the Sublime, an immersive installation merging art and biotechnology also being integrated within its ambitious commissions programme. Created by Christina Agapakis, Alexandra Daisy Ginsberg and Sissel Tolaas, the installation revives the smell of extinct flowers to prompt audiences to meditate on our relation to the natural world. Resurrecting the Sublime was presented with the additional support of Gingko Bioworks and IFF Inc.

Mikolaj Sekutowicz, Curator and Co-founder of Therme Art said:

“Through the pandemic, we learned that our cities are basically monocultures of human life. This makes them vulnerable, because we cannot live without the other life––the other organisms that created our bodies over 200,000 years of evolution. We cannot build worlds around ourselves and live without animals, without trees, without a sustainable connection to nature. As a company, we are proud to support creatives to imagine more sustainable ways of cohabitation, leading us towards a new culture of wellbeing.”

Resurrecting the Sublime at the Biennale Internationale Design Saint-Étienne, March 2019. Photo: Alex-Cretey-Systermans.

During the next months Therme Art will also present its Wellbeing Culture Forum a programme of multidisciplinary discussions and workshops, taking place both in-person and in hybrid form. Realised in collaboration with the British Council, Serpentine, Pnat, Space Caviar, V-A-C Foundation and the Italian Pavilion, the events, running 21st and 22nd May.

The Wellbeing Culture Forum will explore themes of environmental and human wellbeing in greater detail, using the projects supported at the 17th Exhibition as points of inspiration, while also responding to this year’s theme. Curated by the architect Hashim Sarkis, How will we live together? included 112 participants from 46 countries and ran from Saturday 22 May through Sunday 21 November 2021.

In March, Therme Art announced a strategic investment in Superblue, the groundbreaking new initiative in immersive art. This was closely followed by the beginning of a new partnership with rewilding initiative SUGi, to develop native forests at Therme Group projects worldwide.

Therme Art is the arts and culture initiative set up to develop creative solutions for integration within the urban design vision of Therme Group. Currently rolling out its global development strategy with major projects under development in the UK, mainland Europe, North America and Asia Pacific, Therme Group forwards creative thinking to achieve its goal of ‘wellbeing for all’.

Speaking of the company’s continued involvement in the projects at the Biennale Architettura 2021, Therme Group’s CEO and Founder Dr Robert C. Hanea said:

“At Therme Group, we are realising a new model of urban living founded on sustainability, symbiosis and resilience. Therme Group projects act as templates for a new kind of city––one that is founded on human and environmental wellbeing. And as more and more of us come to live in urban environments––the UN estimated that 70 percent of the world’s population will live in cities by 2050––the design and function of our built environments has never been more important. Setting Therme Group apart is our recognition of the vital importance of art and design. For us, it is an opportunity to learn from our most respected designers and glimpse the Wellbeing City of the future.”

For more information, read the full press release.

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