Patrizia Sandretto Re Rebaudengo opened San Giacomo, a Venetian lagoon island she and her husband bought in 2018, to the public on May 7 during the Venice Biennale. The former military site now houses exhibition spaces in converted munitions storehouses, featuring a solo show by Matt Copson curated by Hans Ulrich Obrist, selections from the Sandretto collection with works by Michael Armitage, Sarah Lucas, Victor Man, and Lynette Yiadom-Boakye, and outdoor installations by Pamela Rosenkranz, Claire Fontaine, Hugh Hayden, and Goshka Macuga. The island also includes a chapel-like structure by Hayden and a rocket sculpture by Macuga.
The opening matters because San Giacomo becomes the third permanent home for the Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, joining its Turin headquarters and the Palazzo Re Rebaudengo art park in Piedmont. The project is notable for its self-sustaining design, incorporating renewable energy from Sandretto's husband's company Asja, and for being a unique Italian example of biomuseology—the intersection of biology and museum studies. The island's long history as a monastery, pilgrim stop, vineyard, and military site adds cultural depth, while free public access during biennales and guided tours broadens art engagement in the lagoon.