"I hate being a collector," said Muiccia Prada at the opening of Ca’ Corner della Regina, a spectacular 18th-century Venetian palazzo on the Grand Canal that is the first exhibition space of the Fondazione Prada. “It's vulgar, this desire to own things, but it is also very human." The latter caveat of Prada’s surprising statement is the explanation behind her and Patritzio Bertelli’s accumulation of vast holdings of contemporary art, which is what forms the basis of the Fondazione Prada, the art foundation they founded in 1993.

What started as simply as an art collection pillared by works by the likes of Lucio Fontana and Sigmar Polke has morphed into a pioneering cultural institution that champions art, architecture and unusual installations such as the Double Club, a pop-up restaurant conceived by artist Carsten Holler. For the inaugural exhibition at Ca’ Corner della Regina, Prada is presenting all of these projects in the palazzo’s gilded rooms. Alongside sculptures by leading names such as Anish Kapoor and Donald Judd, the show includes a room dedicated to Lucio Fontana’s signature paintings and several suites with scale-models of the Fondazione Prada’s forthcoming permanent home in Milan designed by Rem Koolhaas and OMA.

As well its own collection, the Fondazione Prada is presenting a unique series of “creative exchanges” between international museums and contemporary artists. This includes the Hermitage Museum of Saint Petersburg, which is showing 18th-century ceramics alongside Jeff Koons’ Fait d’Hiver (1988), and Qatar’s Museum of Islamic Art, which is exhibiting some of its historical artefacts by the work of contemporary artist Buthayna Ali.

Part of the success of Prada’s Venice show is undoubtedly the space, which Prada has leased for six years (it’s permanent Milan home is scheduled to open in 2013). "We didn't want to be too logical with this palazzo. We didn't want to invade, or wipe out the space,” says Bertelli of Ca’ Corner della Regina, which was meticulously restored to its former glory rather than reinterpreted by a contemporary architect. "We wanted it to keep its veneer, and we did not want to exaggerate the skin of the floors or ceilings with makeup."

The absence of any reference to fashion is another factor in the critics praise of Fondazione Prada at Venice. For Mrs. Prada, there is no cross-over between her work in fashion and her role as an art collector. "I refuse the connection," she says. "For me those things are completely separate, except to the extent that your mind is your mind, and my work reflects myself."

Supported by Qatar Museums Authority

As part of the ambitious cultural vision of the Gulf state of Qatar, the Fondazione Prada’s inaugural Venice show is generously supported by the Qatar Museums Authority, who not only helped to finance the show, but also lent artworks as part of the exhibition’s series of “cultural exchanges”. As well as this, at the opening of Ca’ Corner della Regina the Fondazione Prada and Qatar Museums Authority (QMA) announced a joint initiative in the form of a biannual award for emerging curators who establish dialogue between different cultures. A joint statement issued by H.E. Sheikha Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, Chairperson of the Qatar Museums Authority and Miuccia Prada, noted that: “We want to provide an opportunity for young curators to see their vision of an artistic project realized at the highest level on the international stage; an opportunity which we believe does not currently exist.”

Qatar’s interest in art has seen it inaugurate two world-class museums: the I.M. Pei-designed Museum of Islamic Art, which opened in Doha in 2009, and the Mathaf, the Arab Museum of Modern Art, which opened in Doha in 2010. The QMA also sponsored Takashi Murakami at Versailles, the controversial 2010 exhibition that will also be shown in Doha. Most recently, the QMA unveiled a specially commissioned Richard Serra sculpture at the Museum of Islamic Art.


QUOTES:

“I never buy anything except those things that change my ideas, if only in a small way".

"I hate being a collector,"

"We just bought some pieces. And now there is so much of it it's a pity for it to stay in stock."

"It's vulgar, this desire to own things, but it is also very human."

Prada: "Every time he buys another Lucio Fontana, I say 'Not another Fontana!'
Bertelli: "She is like the fox with the grapes in the fable. It is easy for her to say 'Not another Fontana,' because if I didn't buy them she would."