SMAC San Marco Art Centre is a new arts centre opening in Piazza San Marco, Venice, on 9 May 2025.

Every year SMAC presents a dynamic and vibrant programme of exceptional exhibitions across art, architecture, design, fashion and film, offering opportunities for discovery for specialists and the general public alike.

Situated in one of the most iconic locations in the world, SMAC is located on Piazza San Marco inside the Procuratie, recently restored by Pritzker-prize winning architect David Chipperfield.

Across its 16 galleries, SMAC’s programme sheds light on the unexpected, challenges conventions and poses rigorous questions. Through research, dialogue, and experimentation, SMAC critically examines contemporary visual culture and its relation with history, science, philosophy, and society.

SMAC is a spontaneous and experimental organisation that tests traditional models of arts institutions and exhibition making. It welcomes collaboration, providing institutions, artists, and creative practitioners with a platform in Venice.

The institution is rooted in the belief that the arts are more important than ever to the human experience, opening new possibilities for co-existence and allowing cities and communities to thrive.      

‘Migrating Modernism. The architecture of Harry Seidler’ presents the extraordinary personal history and work of the leading modern architect Harry Seidler (1923, Vienna–2006, Sydney), with a particular focus on the artists he worked with and commissioned. The exhibition will feature artists who collaborated on projects with Seidler such as Josef Albers, Alexander Calder, Helen Frankenthaler, Frank Stella, Lin Utzon and Sol LeWitt, as well as the famed Italian structural engineer Pier Luigi Nervi.

The exhibition is curated by the University of Sydney’s Ann Stephen and Paolo Stracchi, with curatorial advisor Nikolaus Hirsch. It is organised in partnership with the Chau Chak Wing Museum of the University of Sydney. 

‘For all that Breathes on Earth. Jung Youngsun and Collaborators’ presents the work of Korea’s foremost landscape architect Jung Youngsun, tracing the development of her practice from grassroots activism to ambitious state-led projects such as those for the Seoul Olympics and Incheon International Airport. Jung’s oeuvre illustrates the profound connection between nature, architecture, and human resilience.

The exhibition is organised in partnership with Seoul’s National Museum of Contemporary Art, MMCA and curated by Jihoi Lee. It was made possible by the Korean Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korean Foundation for International Cultural Exchange, commemorating 140 years of cultural ties between Korea and Italy.