The Biennale Certificate in Philosophy and Art : Call for Participation (Venice, June 18—21, 2026)

The Biennale Certificate in Philosophy and Art: Seeds of the Future is a four-day advanced certificate program designed by IDSVA and philosopher Giovanbattista Tusa (Visiting Faculty, Independent Study and Dissertation director) for curators, artists, researchers, and cultural practitioners seeking to engage with the living context of the Venice Art Biennale. Over four days, participants will move through a sequence of philosophical orientations—Rooting, Growing, Branching, and Cultivating Futures—that frame art as a mode of world-disclosure and situated intervention. The program integrates theoretical reflection, embodied experience, and collaborative experimentation within and beyond the artworks and events of the Biennale. 

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Program Structure

Day 1 — Rooting
The program begins with a philosophical suspension. Before asking what art does, participants ask how art becomes thinkable at all. The Biennale is encountered not as a collection of works but as a field of situated propositions, entangled with histories of exclusion, authority, and epistemic forces.

Day 2 — Growing (with guest curator)
The second day turns toward knowledge and interpretation. With an invited curator, the Biennale emerges as an epistemic landscape where regimes of truth coexist, collide, and fracture.

Day 3 — Branching (self-study)
Participants independently visit the Biennale pavilions. The pavilion is considered as a temporal construction. Attention is directed toward moments where artworks exceed the present, gesturing toward what is not yet visible, legible, or possible.

Day 4 — Cultivating Futures (with guest art theorist and/or artist)
The final day centers on futurity as a philosophical condition. A guided visit to a Venice pavilion with an artist or theorist becomes a laboratory for thinking how art is considered primarily as a temporal gesture that intervenes in the present while binding itself to unknown futures. 

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Certification & Deliverables

Participants who complete the full 25-hour program (guided sessions and self-study) and submit a 1,000-word reflective statement will receive an Advanced Certificate in Philosophy and Art.

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Program Fee

$1800, including tuition instruction, Biennale pass, and the certificate award.

Participants are responsible for their own travel,  accommodation, and stay in Venice.

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Application Guidelines

Applicants are asked to submit the following materials by March 15, 2026 to biennalecertificate@idsva.edu      

· A short statement outlining their practice and their interest in the seminar (up to 300 words)

· A brief biography (up to 150 words) and CV or resume

· (Optional) Up to two links or examples of recent work

For questions, contact: biennalecertificate@idsva.edu

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