Independent Program
CityX Foundation | May 7–8
CityX Foundation presents an independent programme during the Venice Biennale preview week.
Entrance: Calle dei Forni 2187 A
Nearest vaporetto stop: Arsenale
Event Locations: Arsenale Pavilion // Pavilion 1 | Garden Pavilion // Pavilion 2
Nearest vaporetto stop: Arsenale
Event Locations: Arsenale Pavilion // Pavilion 1 | Garden Pavilion // Pavilion 2
During the preview week of the 2026 Venice Biennale (May 7−8), CityX Foundation will present "Fragile Art in Motion" — a two-day independent program unfolding across the Arsenale area in Venice.
Rooted in a private collection spanning over a century of Ukrainian avant-garde, CityX Foundation supports artistic practices shaped by transformation, vulnerability, and cultural change. Through exhibitions, performances, and digital initiatives, the foundation creates new contexts for artists working at the intersection of history and contemporary experience.
Rooted in a private collection spanning over a century of Ukrainian avant-garde, CityX Foundation supports artistic practices shaped by transformation, vulnerability, and cultural change. Through exhibitions, performances, and digital initiatives, the foundation creates new contexts for artists working at the intersection of history and contemporary experience.
Fragility as Structure
At the core of the program lies the concept of fragility — not as a weakness, but as a generative condition that shapes how art exists, evolves, and persists today.
"Fragile Art in Motion" brings together performance, film, digital art, and public discourse, creating a space where artistic practices engage with instability, resilience, and shifting cultural realities across both physical and digital worlds.
"Fragile Art in Motion" brings together performance, film, digital art, and public discourse, creating a space where artistic practices engage with instability, resilience, and shifting cultural realities across both physical and digital worlds.
“Iron Drive” Performance: Sergey Bratkov
The program opens with "Iron Drive", a large-scale live performance and installation by Ukrainian artist Sergey Bratkov
Performance explores fragility as a lived condition, where a single action alters the material permanently, leaving no possibility of return.
Performance explores fragility as a lived condition, where a single action alters the material permanently, leaving no possibility of return.
The performance is enacted by a group of performers: Tania Tytova, Iryna Ozarynska (Ozi), Oksana Savchuk, Anna Aiznestadte, and Grishigiano, whose individual presence and rhythm shape the unfolding of the work.
Day 1 // May 7
4 pm — Doors Open
5 pm — "Iron Drive" Live Performance I
5:30 pm — Welcome Speech (CityX Foundation team)
6:30 pm — "Iron Drive" Live Performance II
4 pm — Doors Open
5 pm — "Iron Drive" Live Performance I
5:30 pm — Welcome Speech (CityX Foundation team)
6:30 pm — "Iron Drive" Live Performance II
Day 2 // May 8
7:20 pm —"Iron Drive" - Final Public Performance
7:20 pm —"Iron Drive" - Final Public Performance
Bratkov’s work anchors the program within a physical and embodied experience, translating abstract questions of fragility into a direct sensory encounter.
Film & Private Screening
On the evening of May 7, CityX Foundation presents a private, invitation-only screening of "The Hammer", a film dedicated to legendary auctioneer Simon de Pury, often referred to as the "Mick Jagger of art auctions."
Conceived as an intimate format, the screening brings together collectors, artists, and cultural practitioners, followed by a conversation reflecting on the relationship between art, value, and market structures.
Conceived as an intimate format, the screening brings together collectors, artists, and cultural practitioners, followed by a conversation reflecting on the relationship between art, value, and market structures.
ACCOMPARTS Digital Art & Auction
Expanding into the digital world, the program includes a curated presentation and auction developed in collaboration with ACCOMPART’S.
Bringing together artists working across blockchain-based and digital practices, the auction frames fragility as a structural condition of contemporary culture — where systems of production, circulation, and attention remain inherently unstable.
Bringing together artists working across blockchain-based and digital practices, the auction frames fragility as a structural condition of contemporary culture — where systems of production, circulation, and attention remain inherently unstable.
Featured Artists
Von Doyle · #1 crush · Francoise Gamma · vidalherrerav · Krist Wood · MarcelMuntyanu · dontbuy_ · Ilya Bliznets · isolationistthe · blanqspacer · haydiroket · Polza · Daria Rastunina · Mattia Cuttini · Annaxmalina · Asal · Simon Lazarus · objektpermanenz81
Curators: @YNKAdigital · Ilya Bliznets
The project unfolds across both online and physical formats, creating a dialogue between on-chain ecosystems and the spatial experience of the Biennale.
Auction opening discussion → @accomparts
TAXAPHONE DJ Set by Emil Zenko
In the evening, the program expands into a more informal yet immersive setting. During the ACCOMPART’S digital presentation in the garden, the space gradually transforms through the TAXAPHONE DJ Set & Networking Reception.
TAXAPHONE is a multimedia project by Paris-based multidisciplinary artist and musician Emil Zenko, combining sculpture, video, and sound into a unified environment.
Through the motif of a phone booth, the work explores communication, isolation, and urban mythology across visual and sonic dimensions, creating a shifting atmosphere where sound, image, and social interaction converge.
TAXAPHONE is a multimedia project by Paris-based multidisciplinary artist and musician Emil Zenko, combining sculpture, video, and sound into a unified environment.
Through the motif of a phone booth, the work explores communication, isolation, and urban mythology across visual and sonic dimensions, creating a shifting atmosphere where sound, image, and social interaction converge.
Aysha E Arar × Mousse Publishing
The second day opens with a preview presentation of the forthcoming monograph dedicated to artist Aysha E Arar, co-published by CityX Foundation in collaboration with Dvir Gallery, Sans titre, and Mousse Publishing.
Rather than a retrospective, the publication functions as a framework for interpretation, situating Arar’s practice within contemporary debates on identity, hybridity, and cultural resistance. The presentation includes a conversation with the artist and a curated display of selected works.
Rather than a retrospective, the publication functions as a framework for interpretation, situating Arar’s practice within contemporary debates on identity, hybridity, and cultural resistance. The presentation includes a conversation with the artist and a curated display of selected works.
Public Program & Discourse
The program continues with a roundtable discussion focused on the challenges of collecting experimental and technologically driven art practices.
Bringing together curators, collectors, and institutional representatives, the discussion addresses evolving models of preservation, the role of digital and phygital works, and the responsibilities of cultural institutions in supporting fragile artistic ecosystems.
Bringing together curators, collectors, and institutional representatives, the discussion addresses evolving models of preservation, the role of digital and phygital works, and the responsibilities of cultural institutions in supporting fragile artistic ecosystems.
Closing & Collective Experience
The program concludes with a closing celebration in collaboration with SPARK Art Fair Vienna, inviting artists, collectors, and cultural actors for an informal evening of exchange.
Across both days, "Fragile Art in Motion" functions as a temporary platform, a space where performance, film, digital systems, and dialogue intersect.
Across both days, "Fragile Art in Motion" functions as a temporary platform, a space where performance, film, digital systems, and dialogue intersect.
With this project, CityX Foundation positions fragility not as a marginal condition, but as one of the defining experiences of contemporary culture.
By moving between physical presence and digital circulation, the program reflects a broader shift in how art is produced, experienced, and preserved today — across unstable systems, evolving technologies, and changing cultural landscapes.
By moving between physical presence and digital circulation, the program reflects a broader shift in how art is produced, experienced, and preserved today — across unstable systems, evolving technologies, and changing cultural landscapes.
About CityX Foundation
CityX Foundation is dedicated to fostering innovation at the intersection of art and technology.
Rooted in a private family collection spanning over 100 years of Ukrainian avant-garde, the foundation traces its origins to "City XA" — a landmark exhibition curated in 2017/18 by Tatyana Tumasyan in Kyiv and Kharkiv.
In 2022, as war broke out in Ukraine, the CityX. io platform was launched to rescue, digitize, and preserve the collection via blockchain technology.
Today, CityX Foundation supports art from fragile zones — expanding beyond Ukrainian avant-garde into global contemporary practices shaped by transformation, vulnerability, and cultural transition.
Fragile Art is not a theme.
It is a condition of our time.
Rooted in a private family collection spanning over 100 years of Ukrainian avant-garde, the foundation traces its origins to "City XA" — a landmark exhibition curated in 2017/18 by Tatyana Tumasyan in Kyiv and Kharkiv.
In 2022, as war broke out in Ukraine, the CityX. io platform was launched to rescue, digitize, and preserve the collection via blockchain technology.
Today, CityX Foundation supports art from fragile zones — expanding beyond Ukrainian avant-garde into global contemporary practices shaped by transformation, vulnerability, and cultural transition.
Fragile Art is not a theme.
It is a condition of our time.