2022
The Royal Gardens of Venice hosted an exhibition tracing the major milestones of 30 years of illy Art Collections — the iconic espresso cups that saw the transformation of an everyday object into a blank canvas on which major artists of international fame have made their mark over the years.
2019
A series of dinner events organised in conjunction with the MICHELIN Guide, held in the setting of the Le Bombarde dell’Arsenale restaurant during the six months of the exhibition, set the stage for creative dialogues between artists selected by the curator of the 2019 Biennale, Ralph Rugoff, and Michelin-starred chefs chosen by Michelin itself.
2017
Robert Wilson designed an installation to celebrate 25 years of illy Art Collections at the Magazzini del Sale centre in Venice. The American artist created “the dish ran away with the spoon everything you can think of is true”: an enchanted space in which images, lights and sounds mark a pathway that winds its way through various landscapes inhabited by objects and sculptures.
2015
illy presents Sebastião Salgado’s photography exhibition, "Scent of a Dream", a photographic journey through coffee-growing countries that began in 2002 and came to an end in 2015, here in Venice.
2013
We chose to mark our presence at the 55th International Art Exhibition by putting coffee culture in the spotlight. With less than two years to go before the beginning of the 2015 EXPO in Milan, we at illy — having been chosen by the Organising Committee as curators of the Coffee Cluster (the themed pavilion dedicated to coffee) — created the perfect link between the Venice festival and the international exhibition by making coffee the official drink.
2011
We chose to mark our presence at the 55th Exhibition The year of our collaboration with Anish Kapoor. A swirl of white smoke rising from a circular base placed at the intersection of the transept and nave of the majestic Basilica di San Giorgio Maggiore: this is Ascension, the site-specific installation created by the artist and included among the collateral events of the 54th Venice Biennale.
2009
The theme is “Making worlds”, and the exhibition is curated by Daniel Birnbaum. The company presents the illy Art Collection designed by Tobias Rehberger: creator of the artistic design for the new bar in the Italian Pavilion. The overarching theme of the design is mimesis. In partnership with the Bevilacqua La Masa Foundation, illycaffè promotes the “Anton’s Memory” exhibition dedicated to Yoko Ono, recipient of the Golden Lion Award for lifetime achievement.
2007
illy announces the SustainArt project and advances the illymind concept with the Push Button House by artist-architect Adam Kalkin: a shipping container that opens outwards like a flower to transform into a fully furnished space with the touch of a button.
The exhibition's theme is “Think with the Senses - Feel with the Mind”, accompanied by a special illywords edition: Sentimental-mente.
2006
illymind is also present at the Architecture Biennale. A live connection to the Literature Festival in Mantua allows architects and writers to discuss the topic of urban density.
2005
based on the results, 1,500 illychairs appeared: portable folding chairs with a shoulder strap and space for papers, ideal for taking unscheduled breaks. “Gardens & Fountains”, an installation in perforated steel, by the American Andrea Blum, was instead designed to encourage social interaction.
2003
the theme is “Dreams and Conflicts: The Tyranny of the Viewer”. In the 500 square metres of the three illymind spaces, created with the help of Artemide and Moroso, research is conducted in collaboration with the Università Ca’ Foscari. The theme: “The paradigm of the ideal exhibition”.
