CaCo3 | Hyperbolic Andamento

As part of the Orsoni Art & Culture programme, Domus Orsoni presents Hyperbolic Andamento, an exhibition by the collective CaCO3, selected for On the Occasion of Homo Faber 2026.

Founded in Ravenna in 2006 by Âniko Ferreira da Silva, Giuseppe Donnaloia, and Pavlos Mavromatidis, CaCO3 develops a research-based practice that brings together contemporary art, mosaic, and material experimentation. The works on display reinterpret mosaic as a living language, exploring the relationship between light, matter, space, and movement.

The exhibition takes its title from the andamento, the compositional principle that governs the arrangement of mosaic tesserae. Through dynamic surfaces that shift with the viewer’s perspective, the exhibition invites visitors to experience mosaic as a constantly evolving perceptual journey.

The encounter between Orsoni Venezia 1888 and CaCO3 creates a dialogue between Venice and Ravenna, two cities that have shaped the history of mosaic, demonstrating how this ancient technique continues to serve as a powerful medium for contemporary artistic research.

The exhibition concludes on 16 October with the opening event of the third edition of Incontri in Fornace, a lecture series curated by Daniele Torcellini and dedicated this year to mosaic in contemporary art.

The CaCO₃ group was founded in 2006 on the initiative of Âniko Ferreira da Silva (Ravenna, 1976), Giuseppe Donnaloia (Martina Franca, 1976), and Pavlos Mavromatidis (Kavala, Greece, 1979). Following their training at the Mosaic Restoration School in Ravenna, they began to share and develop a common artistic path in which ancient and contemporary practices meet in the search for new formal perspectives.

The name CaCO₃—chemical formula of calcium carbonate, or limestone (stone)—refers to one of the primary raw materials commonly used in mosaic production, explicitly highlighting the fundamental role that material plays in the group’s research.

In CaCO₃’s work, manual engagement with matter—rooted in mosaic techniques and in floor and wall coverings—is structured around the repeated actions of cutting, mixing, spreading, and laying. This practice critically reflects on the relationship contemporary societies have with the techniques and materials of dwelling, in terms of necessity, appropriateness, compatibility, and reduction, in a continuous search for ever-renegotiable balances between opposing yet converging poles: organic and inorganic, natural and artificial.

Represented by Galerie Marc Heiremans in Antwerp, the group participates in numerous national and international fairs, including TEFAF Maastricht, and collaborates with various architecture and interior design studios.

In 2025, CaCO₃’s article Mosaic as a Living Language was published in the Venice Biennale journal Applicazioni/Applications, no. 4/25.

In 2023, the group collaborated with Luca Dini Design & Architecture (Florence) and Nova Composite Manufacturing L.L.C. (Dubai) on the production of mosaic models for decorative resin elements, protected by copyright, used for cladding large architectural structures in Saudi Arabia.

In 2019, it worked with Rossi Prodi Associati on the liturgical furnishings of the presbytery of the Cathedral of Maria SS. Assunta in Cielo and St. John the Baptist in Pescia (Pistoia), creating the mosaic decorations for the altar, ambo, and cathedra.

The group is currently working on a monumental installation for the Ravenna Cruise Terminal.
CaCO₃ is based in Ravenna.

CaCo3, Hyperbolic Andamento
Curated by Daniele Torcellini

September 1st – October 16th, 2026
Domus Orsoni (Cannaregio 1045, Venice)
from Monday to Friday, 10 am – 5 pm
Free admission

Cultural mediators will introduce visitors to the exhibition project and will be available to answer questions. Please note that the visit does not include access to the Orsoni furnace spaces.