From July 16 to September 16, 2026, Nabatele traverses the skies of Venice. It is one of the official Collateral Events of the Biennale Arte 2026, an installation conceived by artist Anna Kamyshan, curated by Maria Veits and Yevgeniy Fiks, already curators of the Yiddishland Pavilion, and organized by the Montreal Jewish Museum. Nabatele can be viewed in the northern section of the Arsenale, though in good weather, it is visible from a great distance.
In order to see it, one must look up: the installation floats in the air, appearing almost weightless. At first glance, it resembles a small house perched atop a massive rock, hovering over the quintessential floating city. Of course, there is a trick to it: the structure is actually a large helium-filled balloon. Yet the sense of wonder (aka “wow factor”), enhanced by its realistic details, is genuine.
This is the work’s first, fundamental ingredient: the unexpected, perhaps even the seemingly impossible, confronts us, leaving us open-mouthed. It might remind some people of something specific: perhaps the house from “Up” (the 2009 animated film), even though in that instance the balloons are on the outside of the structure; or one of René Magritte’s surrealist paintings featuring massive boulders floating in the sky. Among these, “The Castle of the Pyrenees” (1959), which the artist herself cites as a reference.
No single point of reference is necessarily superior to the others; the imagery, like the artistic project as a whole, constantly shifts between past, present and maybe future, prompting a multifaceted reflection. One must, therefore, look more closely.
Nabatele — The Title
Once the initial sense of wonder has passed, let us return to the beginning. The title of the work, Nabatele, is a compound word. Nabat is a term shared by Russian and Ukrainian that means “alarm.” It is a call to attention; literally, it refers to the ringing of alarm bells. It thus represents a concrete action, a request to cast aside the distractions of daily life and focus on something specific. The Yiddish suffix -ele, on the other hand, is a diminutive that conceptually renders this alarm at least smaller, though no less significant. It may well allude to the fears and needs of each individual, of every single inhabitant of the planet, rather than serving merely as a cry linked to the world’s major crises.
Once the alarm is raised, the instinct is to seek shelter. But where?
Nabatele — The Synagogue
Inside the flying synagogue. Upon closer inspection of Nabatele, one notices the Star of David on the entrance and realizes that the small house perched on the rock is actually a synagogue. Its exterior design evokes the wooden synagogues of the “shtetls“, villages in Central and Eastern Europe that were home to numerous Jewish communities for centuries.
These wooden synagogues, many of which were destroyed during World War II, served as focal points for the local population. They were symbols of identity and places of community gathering, much like churches, mosques, and temples have been in other times and cultures. This reference to Judaism is linked to the artist’s own background: Anna Kamyshan is of Jewish and Ukrainian descent, though she currently works in London as a multidisciplinary artist and architect.
The artist’s diverse origins likely offer a way to transcend the purely religious dimension: one can interpret the intention to recreate within the work the concept of “refuge”, a concept that has historically held religious significance. Yet, this refuge can evolve and transform without losing its fundamental character or its essence as a safe haven and a point of reference.
It is a beacon visible even amidst the dark night of the lagoon; indeed, the installation lights up, and the synagogue windows glow. The image of a lit window is a simple yet powerful symbol. For any human being, regardless of culture or religion, there is nothing more comforting than seeing a light shining in the darkness. A beacon in the sky, like the one that reassures the hearts of sailors.
The reference to the lighthouse in the night is, among other things, just one of the aspects linking this work to a city like Venice. The very concept of a “flying synagogue” fits into the city’s history, and specifically that of the Ghetto. Indeed, Venice’s synagogues are all located on the top floors of the buildings housing them.
This arrangement was adopted to address the chronic lack of space in the Ghetto and to observe the Jewish precept prohibiting anything earthly from being situated above places of worship (though there is no such restriction regarding what lies beneath them). In a sense, all of Venice’s synagogues are historically “flying” spaces that, in an ideal sense, foreshadow Nabatele’s flight.
Nabatele — The Shelter
A place of shelter, then, a refuge. Yet, upon closer inspection, the very concept of a refuge is challenged by the work of art. By its nature, Nabatele is not a stable place. It is suspended; it floats; it must contend with weather conditions. It can rise as high as twenty-five meters or be forced down toward the lagoon to avoid the wind. The work’s instability thus seems to suggest that creating a shelter, making it tangible and usable, is a complex undertaking. It always has been, and it remains so.
We realize this especially when viewing the contemporary world through the lens of the artist’s own biography; recalling, for instance, the historical tribulations of the Jewish people or the current situation in Ukraine. It is easy to broaden this perspective: a sense of alarm is ubiquitous and constant, spanning everything from the climate to geopolitics, from the chronic instability of Venice and its lagoon to the myriad problems facing individual lives.
Reflecting on the concept of “shelter” thus takes on fundamental importance for our shared future.
Nabatele helps us sense the alarm; it reminds us of the need to pay attention, to grasp the issues at hand, and to react. And while Magritte’s “The Castle of the Pyrenees” might prompt us to reflect on the futility of building “castles in the air”, the actual sight of Nabatele almost makes us hope that, at some point and in some way, we might turn the eternal quest for a safe haven into reality.
Nabatele | Collateral Event Biennale Arte 2026
Curators: Maria Veits, Yevgeniy Fiks
Exhibitor: Anna Kamyshan
Venue: Arsenale Nord
16.07 – 16.09.2026
Free entrance
For any updates regarding visiting arrangements, please refer to the project website and social media accounts.
Discover: nabatele.world
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