In its Venice location, situated in the historic house Ca’ Corner della Regina, Fondazione Prada shows the artist Christoph Büchel’s project “Monte di Pietà.” This project coincides with La Biennale di Venezia currently on view until November 2024.

Büchel’s framework for creating a well-articulated network of spatial, economic, and cultural references is the multi-layered history of the 18th-century palazzo Ca’ Corner della Regina, which served as the permanent home of Fondazione Prada since 2011 and as the site of the Monte di Pietà, in Venice from 1834 to 1969. The idea that debt is the foundation of human society and the main means of exercising political and cultural power is explored in depth in “Monte di Pietà.” Venice, historically a hub of cultural and commercial interchange, provides a perfect setting for examining the connections between these intricate subjects and the intricate workings of modern society.

“Monte di Pietà” expands within a fully immersive setting, occupying the ground floor, mezzanine and first floor of the palazzo. It comprises of a fake bankrupt pawnshop designed to resemble the actual Monte di Pietà in Venice. This setting surrounds Christoph Büchel’s piece, The Diamond Maker (2020–), which features a suitcase filled with lab-grown diamonds. It is the outcome of the artist’s complete collection of works, including those from his early years and those that he has yet to make, being physically and symbolically destroyed and transformed. “Monte di Pietà” combines references to previously imagined installations with brand-new productions. Contemporary artworks explore ideas of property history, credit and finance, the development of collections and archives, and the creation and meaning of real or artificial wealth. This is a dramatic and spectacular installation.