In RedSkyFalls, the mountainous landscape of a computer desktop serves as a habitat for aquatic plants and small luminous organisms, the Réplicas, nestled inside the grooves of aluminium plates.
When the red sky falls, paradigms shift between divine providence, science as credo, data as oracle, and new obscurantist myths. Seismographs register these sideways movements, as humanity inscribes environmental and social fracture lines into the Earth’s crust. Tectonic manifestations open fissures, not only in the ground but also in thought.
RedSkyFalls proposes a way of experiencing these ruptures by observing a system that responds, in real time, to near and distant events of geophysical scale, with pre-digital sensibility.
RedSkyFalls by Alexandre Estrela will represent Portugal at the 61st International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia. Curated by Ana Baliza and Ricardo Nicolau, it will be held from May 9 to November 22, 2026.
The project was selected for the Biennale Arte 2026, structured “In Minor Keys,” as it resonates with the piece’s quieter registers.
Seismic energy connects RedSkyFalls to other seismically active geographies through a network of RÉPLICAS, which respond to global seismic activity and nearby events in a perceptibly synchronous manner. In collaboration with the Portugal Pavilion, partner institutions — the Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts, REDCAT–Roy and Edna Disney CalArts Theater, the Museo de Arte de Lima (MALI), the Museo Universitario Arte Contemporáneo (MUAC) of UNAM, and Galeria Zé dos Bois — each host a reproduction of a RÉPLICA of RedSkyFalls, presented in Venice at the Biennale Arte 2026.
During its seven-month exhibition in Venice, the installation is expanded by the programme Survey on an S Wave, organized by Marco Bene. A series of events — talks, concerts, happenings, screenings—proposes a reverberating reading of the piece. In his performative visits, Bene brings with him a Portable Seismic Archive, which temporarily introduces other works and artists into the exhibition, opening and bridging gaps in RedSkyFalls.
Across all its forms, RedSkyFalls proposes a poetic method of survival through the construction of a synchronized relational infrastructure.
RedSkyFalls
Alexandre Estrela
Curated by Ana Baliza | Ricardo Nicolau
Fondaco Marcello, Venice
09.05–22.11.2026
Connected via seismic energy
to RÉPLICAS exhibited in
Los Angeles, USA
REDCAT – Roy and Edna Disney CalArts Theater
9.05 – 05.07.2026
San Francisco, USA
The Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts – California College of the Arts
9.05 – 21.11.2026
Lisboa, Portugal
Galeria Zé dos Bois
23.05 – 22.11.2026
Lima, Perú
Museo de Arte de Lima (MALI)
18.07 – 18.10.2026
Ciudad de México, México
Museo Universitario Arte Contemporáneo (MUAC), UNAM
12.09 – 22.11.2026
Organisation
Ministério da Cultura, Juventude e Desporto, Margarida Balseiro Lopes
Commissioner
Direção-Geral das Artes
Américo Rodrigues, Director-General
DIRECÇÃO-GERAL DAS ARTES
Executive Production and Communication
Catarina Correia, Raquel Monteiro, Sofia Isidoro
Local architect (Venice)
João Lacerda Moreira
Press translation
KennisTranslations, S.A
Installation
Animation, generative systems and sound
Ian Duclos
Animated sequences
Rui Almeida
Soundscape
Miguel Abreu
Scientific consulting
Laboratório de Neurogenética da Locomoção (NOVA Medical School)
Moita Lab, Vasconcelos Lab, Orger Lab (Champalimaud Research)
Instituto Português do Mar e da Atmosfera (IPMA)
Project
Executive production
Mariana Vitale
Studio management and production
Patrícia Assis
Editorial assistance
Paloma Portela
Exhibition
Architecture
Space Collectors
Production and installation
ArtWorks
On-site architectural supervision
Paolo Piccinin
Audiovisual installation
Ian Duclos, Francisco Antão
Survey On An S Wave
Programme of events, performative visits with the Portable Seismic Archive
Fondaco Marcello, Venezia
09.05–22.11.2026
Curated by Marco Bene
Production
Alessandra Messali
Sound and recording technician
Mattia Biadene
With contributions from
Giovanbattista Tusa, Miguel Abreu, Stanley Schtinter, Laia Estruch, Gavin Bryars, Yuri Bryars, James Woodrow, Pietro Bartolini, Emanuele Wiltsch Barberio, Giacomo Salis, Gabriel Ferrandini, Nu No, Post Brothers, Von Calhau!, Giulia Vismara, Charlemagne Palestine, Jason Fulford
With works kindly lent by
Emily Harvey Foundation Venice, Fundação de Serralves, and the artists
Sismo-Sinal
Creation and Mediation Programme
Galeria Zé dos Bois, Lisbon
09.05–22.11.2026
Production
Galeria Zé dos Bois (ZDB)
Guided tours
ZDB Education Department, Anaísa Raquel (accessible tours and audio description)
Workshops
Scientific supervision
João Frazão (Neurogears) and Matheus Farias (Moita Lab, Champalimaud Research)
Artistic supervision
Elisa Pône, Igor Jesus, Marfox, Joana da Conceição, Von Calhau!
With participation from MA students from ESAD/Caldas da Rainha
Catalogue
Graphic design
Ilhas Studio
Editorial coordination
Sara de Chiara
Publisher
Daisy Editions
Distribution
Idea Books and Les Presses du Réel
Communication
Graphic identity
farO
Communication design
Ana Resende Studio
Web developer
Joel Domingues
Translations
Paloma Portela, Sara de Chiara
MEDIA
Audiovisual editing and documentation
Hugo Botelho Rodrigues
Radio announcements
Natxo Checa
Audio description for TV
Gabriel Abrantes
Social media
Maria Mendes
PRESS
National press
Beatriz Vasconcelos
International press
Close Encounters PR, Nadia Fatnassi
Sponsors and Partnerships
Main Sponsor
Fundação EDP
Sponsors
Galería Travesía Cuatro, Casa São Roque
Rialto6, Fundação Luso-Americana para o Desenvolvimento
Institutional partners
AICEP, Camões – Instituto da Cooperação e da Língua, I.P.
Réplicas Institutional partners
REDCAT – Roy and Edna Disney CalArts Theater
The Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts – California College of the Arts
Galeria Zé dos Bois
Museo de Arte de Lima (MALI)
Museo Universitario Arte Contemporáneo (MUAC), UNAM
Production partners
Emily Harvey Foundation, Fundação de Serralves, Microclima / Cinema Galleggiante ~ Acque Sconosciute, ESAD.CR – LIDA/IP Leiria
Scientific partners
NOVA Medical School
Champalimaud Research
Instituto Português do Mar e da Atmosfera (IPMA)
Production support
ArtWorks, Space Collectors, Central Projetores, Valchromat, Gráfica Maiadouro
Pato em Pequim, Vision RIP, farO, Parterre, Nua Cider
Editorial partners
Contemporânea, Electra, A Batalha, Wrong Wrong, Le Monde diplomatique
Media support
RTP, Antena 1, Antena 2, Antena 3, Canal180, Coffeepaste, Gerador
International Press enquiries
Close Encounters PR
Nadia Fatnassi