Florentina Holzinger “Seaworld Venice” Austria, Venice Biennale 2026

“Seaworld Venice” is an exhibition created by Florentina Holzinger, choreographer, director, performer and actress.

Austria © Nicole Marianna Wytyczak Her exhibition focuses on the theme of Venice and water, as the water of the lagoon is inextricably linked to the history, life and even survival of Venice.

Florentina Holzinger’s highly personal and original approach to this theme aims to highlight the negative impact of our activities and lifestyles on nature.

To bring her project to life, Florentina Holzinger has assembled a team of athletes, stunt performers, circus artists and dancers.

Austria © Nicole Marianna Wytyczak One of the elements of this art installation is a church bell that was submerged in the Venetian lagoon before being carried in a procession, surrounded by naked women, to the Austrian pavilion.

For the artist, this bell does not merely refer to the sacred and divine laws; it also represents the measurement of time and serves to sound the alarm in the event of a fire or flood, just as in the Middle Ages when the tocsin was rung to warn the population of the arrival of hostile troops or the outbreak of an epidemic.

Austria © Nicole Marianna Wytyczak The bell hangs from the end of a crane in front of the Austrian pavilion, and it chimes on the hour.

But it rings the hour in a very particular way, as a completely naked athlete climbs inside the bell, then hangs upside down by her feet and uses her chest as a clapper to ring it.

Florentina Holzinger also aims to highlight the pollution of nature and water by the wealthiest societies, which dispose of their polluting waste by sending it to the poorest countries.

This criticism is expressed through another provocation:

Austria © Nicole Marianna Wytyczak The artist has installed a large aquarium in which naked women wearing diving masks are swimming.

Nothing particularly shocking so far, but the emotional impact stems from the quality of the water in which these mermaids swim before us, serving to highlight the concepts of purity and impurity, and purification.

This water actually comes from the two portable toilets installed on either side of the aquarium, toilets which visitors to the pavilion are invited to use.

Rest assured, a mini-treatment plant filters and purifies the water containing excrement before it fills the aquarium.

Austria, Florentina Holzinger But that doesn’t change the fact that these water nymphs are swimming in the visitors’ urine.

The most incredible thing is that visitors willingly take part in this without the slightest embarrassment, queuing up to use these toilets.

What is more shocking?

The nude artists who agree to swim in this rather unusual water, or the spectators who use these toilets whilst knowing and seeing where their bodily fluids are going?

Austria ©Wytyczak A little further on, in a small room filled with water, a young naked woman rides a jet ski at high speed, circling round and round and creating huge waves.

The message here is to show the effects of overtourism on nature.

One is also naturally reminded of the waves caused by boats that erode and destroy the banks and foundations of houses in Venice.

Finally, in her desire to link the sacred to the female body—a theme already expressed through the church bell—Florentina Holzinger has installed a weather vane, identical to those found on church steeples.

This weather vane is fixed to the top of a mast taller than the hall in which it is installed and protrudes from the roof of the pavilion.

Austria ©Wytyczak Outside, above its spire, stands a superb gilded sculpture of a nude woman performing an acrobatic feat by drawing a bow with her legs.

Inside, and all along the mast to which they are attached, naked acrobats climb up and down; in addition to the physical exertion required by the repetition of their climbs, they must also redouble their efforts to maintain their balance as the mast rotates whenever the wind blows.

Florentina Holzinger has named this large weather vane “The Descent from the Cross”, a very feminine descent.

The nudity of these women highlights the vulnerability of the human body.

Austria, Florentina Holzinger