Inspired by the Royal Gardens, a hidden gem located in the heart of Venice, Swatch presents Flora Fantastica by Swatch Art Peace Hotel, an exhibition that will bloom during the 61st International Art Exhibition.
Swatch has cherished a deep love for art, collaborating with artists for more than forty years. At the heart of this vision, the Swatch Art Peace Hotel, stands as a vibrant symbol of this ongoing commitment to supporting creativity from around the world. Located in central Shanghai, the artist residency was founded in 2011 and has served for the last 15 years as a creative space where artists from all disciplines and all parts of the world can focus on one thing: creating.
Flora Fantastica transports visitors into an emotional landscape, where Shanghai’s iconic trees, underwater creatures, unusual techniques, larger-than-life multifaceted objects, textures and layers create an immersive environment where stories, forms, colors, and materials engage a vibrant dialogue with the surrounding botanical garden, blurring the boundaries between art and nature, reality and imagination.
The exhibition will feature works by five former artists-in-residence of the Swatch Art Peace Hotel, representing a variety of countries and artistic disciplines. Each one places nature at the centre of their practice, gently taking over the beautiful greenhouse and blending seamlessly with the evocative atmosphere of the Royal Gardens.
The project, shaped by both the artists’ common residency experience at the Swatch Art Peace Hotel and their individual creative paths, invites an uncommon exploration of nature, allowing the artworks to resonate with the living landscape of the garden.
The exhibition is part of the year-long program of events and creative collaborations the Swatch Art Peace Hotel’s 15-year anniversary.
Flora Fantastica
May 6 to July 26, 2026
Giardini Reali, San Marco, Venezia.
Wednesday – Sunday, 9:30 am – 7 pm. Free admission
ABOUT THE SWATCH ART PEACE HOTEL
The Swatch Art Peace Hotel provides a space where creativity knows no limits or borders. It is a space where painters, musicians, filmmakers, writers, and artists in general do one thing: CREATE.
Opened in November 2011, it provides artists with a unique experience, a hub of creativity and an incubator for creative projects where their artistic careers evolve, and new ideas come to life. Invited talents are given space and time to work in freedom and develop themselves in a dynamic community of extraordinary, international, creative, and challenging minds. Since its opening, the artist residency has welcomed over 600 artists from 60 countries, fostering an environment rooted in history yet resolutely contemporary, ready for the future.
