illycaffè presents the “In minor Keys” collection at the Venice Biennale 2026, featuring works by four international artists. Installations at the café in the Giardini Reali and oversize cups in the canals transform the everyday object into a narrative and scenic device.
illycaffè presented the new illy Art Collection In minor Keys in Venice at the 61st. International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia. The project is part of the event’s program and interprets Koyo Kouoh’s chosen theme, In Minor Keys, through the work of four international artists from different geographical and generational backgrounds. The collection involves Irish Alice Maher, Cameroonian Werewere Liking, South African Thania Petersen, and British-Bengali Mohammed Z. Rahman. Their interpretations transform the coffee cup into an object of symbolic reading, linked to memory, narrative and everyday practices, with different but converging approaches to the relationship between art and ordinary life.
The presentation took place at the illy café in the Giardini Reali, near St. Mark’s Square, where the new collection was previewed through four color installations. Each cup, associated with a distinct color, refers to the specific imagery of the individual artists. An information totem was placed at the entrance of the exhibition space, illustrating the concept of the project and the development process of the works, with the aim of providing a contextual reading of the intervention. The installation remained visible until May 9, during the Biennale’s vernissage days, inside the illy café in the Giardini Reali, allowing the public to engage with the new collection in a context open to direct enjoyment.
illycaffè, main sponsor of the Biennale Arte 2026, also accompanied the launch with an intervention in the Venetian urban space. Cups made in an oversize format, handcrafted by master artisans, traversed the city’s canals until they reached Riva Ca’ di Dio, where an additional installation was set up that will remain on public display until May 10.
“We are delighted to be the main sponsor of the Biennale Arte, a commitment we have been passionately pursuing since 2003,” said illycaffè’s CEO, Cristina Scocchia, during the collection presentation event. “Once again this year we wanted to show our support for the event by dedicating an exclusive collection of cups to it. The illy Art Collection In minor keys celebrates the ability of art to enter everyday life, giving new emotions. The collaboration with the 4 artists from different generations and cultures who signed it has been a source of growth and inspiration for us, and Venice is the ideal stage to present this creative symphony.”
The intervention is also part of a design continuity with a previous digital activation: two years ago an image generated through artificial intelligence had spread the idea of floating cups in Venetian canals. The current edition translates that image into a physical presence, with a shift from virtual representation to the material construction of the installation. The illy Art Collection will be distributed through various commercial channels, including the brand’s e-shop, dedicated stores such as illy Caffè and illy Shop, large-scale organized distribution, and indirect e-commerce platforms.
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| In Venice, the new illy Art Collection for the Biennale with installations and giant cups |
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