Dries Verhoeven – Bertolani at the 2026 Venice Biennale

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Dries Verhoeven - artist
So I was asked to make an artwork in this building, that was built in the post war years, so in 1954 and it wwas built by a very famous dutch architect and back then, you know, the world war was in our back and people were looking towards the future with a lot of hope and you can feel that in the building.
It’s a very light building and it was all about letting the sun light in and back then the Netherlands was a country that was very accessible, looking towards the future, looking towards all the other countries in the world. They wer like a proud representative of the free west, let’s say.
And when I was asked to make an artwork here, I was lik “uhm, these is the Netherlands now?”. I see the Netherlands closing itself more and more now, being a bit afraid of what is coming in the future.
So protectionism that you see in the world I also see in my country, so what I wanted to do is to “close the building”.
It’s empty, the building, so you start to think maybe about the ideology by which it was built, and there’re a few books inside that refer to the Biennale as it was the last twenty years, you protect them, you see it’s protected, clearly, no one can break it, but you cannot open it anymore, so it’s very well protected.
You find yourself here in this room, with those books, it’s getting dark and then one of the spectators, someone that looks like a spectator is gonna make sounds, and you clearly feel that rationality is disappearing, so they make a sound that is called “grunting”, it comes from death metal, the performers use their false vocal cords not the real vocal cords and it feels like rationality is disappearing and amids us there’s someone that resembles more animal that a human being. And that’s maybe confusing, disruptive, a bit scary but I also hope that you recognize the current days in this performance.
We take the time and it slowly getting darker and darker and one of us that looks like just you and me, starts to make sound that you’re not aware that is possible for human being to make those sounds, it’s quite intense.
Silvia Malagola - Foreign Sales Officer - Bertolani Buildings
When we first received the inquiry from Dries Studio for the installation of acoustic panels, we were very intrigued for the project, since the very beginning. We very much like challenges, we really wanted to be on board, so we did our best to comply with both the acoustic requirements and the need to disassemble the entire installation after the exposition.
When we learned more about Dries' project , we really wanted to support The Fortress message.
I think that admiringly the Biennale decided to raise the voice about the fact that this is a place for dialogue, for exchange, even among countries and artists from different countries even if they are divided by conflicts. We wanted to keep in touch with the Biennale, ‘cause we’re trying to make some sensibilization on acoustic installation in this context.
Acoustic impact on this installation really made the difference, so we’re determined to make art more sensible to acoustic and yes, if ths should happen, we’re very happy to take part in similar projects.
Riccardo Rossi - Responsabile Marketing - STO
Siamo stati coinvolti da Alessandro Bertolani su questo progetto sin dalle prime fasi e la parte che ci è piaciuta di più era la sfida tecnica che c’era presentata: ovvero non dovevamo fare solo fonoassorbimento, cosa che facciamo quotidianamente in altre tipologie di applicazione, ma qua era da calcolare esattamente il tempo di riverbero migliore, per consentire ai performer di esprimere al massimo le loro emozioni.
(We were involved in this project by Alessandro Bertolani from its earliest stages. What excited us most was the technical challenge it presented. Our task was not simply to provide sound absorption—which is something we do every day in many other types of applications—but to precisely calculate the optimal reverberation time, allowing the performers to express their emotions to the fullest.)
Per far questo abbiamo individuato un pannello che si chiama ProPanel Distance che ha un AlfaW di 0,95 ovvero è in grado di assorbire il 95% delle onde sonore e per poterlo fare abbiamo dovuto applicarlo a parete, un'applicazione tecnicamente conosciuta, ma che solitamente viene sostituita da quella in controsoffitto, in quanto il secondo obiettivo della sfida era quello che alla fine della Biennale tuto dovrà essere rimosso lasciando il padiglione per come è stato fatto.
(To achieve this, we selected a panel called ProPanel Distance, which has an αw (Alpha W) rating of 0.95, meaning it is capable of absorbing 95% of sound waves. To obtain the desired acoustic performance, we installed the panels directly on the walls. While this is a well-established technical solution, it is more common to use suspended ceiling installations instead. The second challenge was that, once the Biennale comes to an end, everything will have to be removed, leaving the pavilion exactly as it was before the installation.)
Tutto questo ci dà una doppia visibilità dal punto di vista della sostenibilità, in quanto il pannello è composto già di per sè dall’88% da vetro riciclato, quindi è una materia prima seconda, e l’ulteriore sfida in cui ci siamo lanciati insieme ad Alessandro Bertolani è capire se questi pannelli, che sono stati installati qua, una volta rimossi potranno essere riutilizzati in un altro progetto, dando vita ancora ad una economia circolare sostenibile.
(All of this gives us a double sustainability advantage. First, the panels themselves are made from 88% recycled glass, meaning they are manufactured using secondary raw materials. The additional challenge we embraced together with Alessandro Bertolani was to determine whether the panels installed here, once removed at the end of the Biennale, can be reused in another project. If successful, they will begin a new lifecycle, contributing to a truly sustainable circular economy.)
Dries Verhoeven - Artist
What I said is I wanted to keep the building as it was, as I found it with all the mold stains and the cracks in the walls and everything, so the audience feels this is how it was built. So I didn’t want to do an intervention inside the building that would feel like “new”. But then again I also want to host grunting, I wanted to have these voices that are pretty loud and the moment I was testing it in the building, was horrible, because of the acoustics: it sounded like a cathedral and here I realized that my concept would maybe not work.
So we found the company Bertolani and they proposed a solution that was wonderful, because they made it possible to make the acoustic way way better, without any audience member realizing that, but just putting three big walls in the pavilion that looked exactly like the existing walls.

Bertolani Buildings signs the invisible: reverberation acoustic correction at Dutch Pavillion during Biennale Arte 2026 makes ‘’The Fortress’’ by Dries Verhoeven possible

Behind one of the most intense installation at the Biennale Arte 2026 stands also an Italian excellence. Bertolani Buildings carried out the complex reverberation acoustic intervention in the Dutch Pavillion, playing a relevant part in making The Fortress by Dries Verhoeven, curated by Rieke Vos, possible.

When contemporary art challenges space, technique as well is faced with pushing its boundaries. This is what happened at Dutch Pavillion of Biennale Arte 2026, where Bertolani Buildings made its competences available to The Fortress, the installation signed by Dries Verhoeven and curated by Rieke Vos.

This work of art transforms the famous Pavillion by Gerrit Rietveld into an immersive experience reflecting on nowadays tensions: nationalisms, geopolitical instability, climate change and loss of trust in the western democratic values after Second World War.
Six times each day, at each hour, the Pavillion closes itself up from the outside. The heavy steel grates make the hall gradually darker, whereas, inside, thirteen performers accompany visitors on a sound experience based on the grunting vocal technique, typical of death metal. This journey reaches its peak in total darkness, leaving visitors hanging in a strong emotional space.

The importance of silence to strengthen sound
For this experience to convey its full intensity, it was essential to eliminate any external acoustic interference.

This is where Bertolani Buildings comes into play.
The company was commissioned to design and implement an acoustic reverberation correction that simultaneously met the artistic requirements of the artwork, the architectural characteristics of the historic pavilion, and the extremely tight deadlines imposed by the Biennale organizers.
The result was the creation of an acoustically controlled environment where every nuance of the sound performance can be perceived by the audience, free from external interference. It is an intervention invisible to the visitor, yet fundamental to ensuring the work achieves the level of immersion envisioned by the artist.

An internationally recognized collaboration
The quality of the work carried out by Bertolani Buildings has also been recognized by the project organizers.

The company has indeed been named an official partner of the Netherlands Pavilion alongside the Mondriaan Fonds, affirming the value of a collaboration in which construction expertise and design sensibility made a tangible contribution to the realization of the installation.
(see: https://www.mondriaanfonds.nl/en/activities/venice-biennale/ )

When technique becomes part of the work
In the case of The Fortress, the elimination of reverb is not merely a technical requirement, but an essential component of the artistic narrative.
Indeed, sound insulation allows the public to fully experience the gradual transition from light to darkness, from openness to enclosure, transforming the pavilion into a metaphor for the fragility of contemporary societies.
It is a tangible demonstration of how the value of an artistic project can arise from the meeting of creativity and execution capabilities—a dialogue in which Bertolani Buildings has successfully placed its expertise at the service of art, helping to make one of the most significant installations of the Biennale Arte 2026 a reality.

CREDITS:
Concept: artist Dries Verhoeven & curator Rieke Vos
Commissioner: Mondriaan Fund
Video performers: Mona Productions

OFFICIAL WEBSITE:
www.driesverhoeven.com
www.dutch-pavilion.com

Dries Verhoeven – Bertolani at the 2026 Venice Biennale

Bertolani Buildings signs the invisible: reverberation acoustic correction at Dutch Pavillion during Biennale Arte 2026 makes ‘’The Fortress’’ by Dries Verhoeven possible

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Dries Verhoeven – Bertolani at the 2026 Venice Biennale

Bertolani Buildings signs the invisible: reverberation acoustic correction at Dutch Pavillion during Biennale Arte 2026 makes ‘’The Fortress’’ by Dries Verhoeven possible

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