Venice’s newest art venue: an industrial hall on Campo San Pietro, opened in September 2026 by the team behind CREA on the Giudecca, with the photography show Static Cinema as its first exhibition.
At a glance
At Castello 71, on the quiet grassy campo of the island of San Pietro di Castello, a long single-aisle hall under a timber-trussed roof has become San Pietro — Cantieri del Contemporaneo, a new cultural hub for contemporary art. It opened on 3 September 2026 under the direction of Pier Paolo Scelsi and Ilaria Cera, and it extends to Castello a project born on the Giudecca: CREA — Cantieri del Contemporaneo, which runs three exhibition spaces in the island’s former shipbuilding quarter. Press coverage describes the new home as a piece of Venetian industrial archaeology, a former boatyard hall given over to exhibitions. Light falls in grids through the industrial windows; the roof trusses are left bare.
Key facts
- Address: Campo San Pietro, Castello 71, 30122 Venice
- Opened: 3 September 2026, with the vernissage of Static Cinema
- Direction: Pier Paolo Scelsi and Ilaria Cera
- Parent project: CREA — Cantieri del Contemporaneo, Giudecca
- First exhibition: Static Cinema, curated by ART-ICON, 3–24 September 2026
- Location: approx. 45.4347 N, 12.3594 E — Google Maps
History
CREA — Cantieri del Contemporaneo grew up on the Giudecca, in the brick sheds of the former CNOMV shipbuilding compound, where it has run the Legno & Legno, One Contemporary and Hydromirò art spaces alongside the island’s surviving boatbuilders and craft workshops. The project’s identity was always double: contemporary art on one side, Venice’s working heritage on the other, shown in the same industrial rooms that heritage built.
In September 2026 the project crossed the water. The new venue takes its name from its campo — Campo San Pietro, on the island that held Venice’s cathedral until 1807, when the title passed from the Basilica di San Pietro di Castello to St Mark’s. The island has stayed one of the city’s least trafficked corners: grass underfoot, boats at the rio, washing between the houses. Opening a contemporary-art hall here, days before the 83rd Venice International Film Festival, put the address straight onto the city’s cultural map.
What you see
The hall reads as a workshop first and a gallery second: one long nave under exposed timber trusses, a translucent industrial roof, white-plastered walls and a patterned concrete floor. Rows of large windows fill the space with lagoon light. It is the kind of room Venice built for work, not display — which is precisely the point the venue’s name insists on: cantieri, worksites, of the contemporary.
Practical information
- Opening hours follow the exhibition programme — check the organisers’ channels (creavenice.com and art-icon.org) before visiting.
- The campo itself is open at all times and is one of the few grassy public spaces in Venice.
Getting there
The island of San Pietro di Castello lies at the eastern end of Castello, a short walk from Via Garibaldi across the wooden bridge that appears at the end of the campo’s tree-lined walk. From San Marco, allow 25–30 minutes on foot through Castello.
Nearby
- Cantiere Nautico Crea, Giudecca — the traditional boatyard in the same former shipbuilding compound where the parent project CREA has its Giudecca spaces
- Static Cinema 2026 — the venue’s inaugural exhibition, 3–24 September 2026
Sources
- CREA — Cantieri del Contemporaneo (official site) — new San Pietro venue, Giudecca spaces, contacts
- ART-ICON — Static Cinema Venice 2026 — exhibition dates and venue address
- Artuu Magazine — the venue as a former boatyard hall
- Wikipedia — Basilica di San Pietro di Castello — the island’s cathedral history
Find it on the map
See this place and what’s around it →Record researched and written by Carla Szathvary for Cultural Heritage Online, 2026.
📷 Become a Cultural Heritage Online photographer
Share your photos of places: they stay published under your name as the author. The more they're seen, the more you get noticed — and soon a contest will reward the most appreciated photos.
Log in or sign up free to add a photoIs this page about you?
This page is read by travellers and heritage enthusiasts who find it on Google. Tell us how you are connected to this place and we will take it from there.