WERNS as part of the
Venice Design Week
WERNS was invited to contribute an installation for Venice Design Week, October 11–19, 2025. In the heart of Venice, inside the historic church of San Leonardo, WERNS will unveil a 3.5-meter-high installation in the shape of a Hiding Rabbit. The work is inspired by the brand’s iconic Hiding Rabbit Lamp, which has already gained international recognition and won several awards.
The installation begins its journey in Germany and travels to Italy, where it will be completed in a live performance on October 11. For this unique edition, WERNS collaborates with artist Juliane Golbs, who transforms the white sculpture into an extraordinary piece of art. Her practice draws on the poetry of fleeting everyday moments and employs a wide range of techniques. Her visual language creates a dialogue between art, design, culture, and fashion – timeless and elegant, yet playful and modern. With references to Alice in Wonderland, the installation becomes a narrative object, telling a story of curiosity, transformation, and togetherness.
With this collaboration, WERNS and Juliane Golbs present more than a design piece: they create a living dialogue between disciplines – where light becomes poetry, design becomes culture, and art becomes an experience to be shared.
The collaboration between WERNS and artist Juliane Golbs grew from a shared passion for exploring boundaries between disciplines. WERNS is known for its playful yet timeless design language that brings personality into design. Juliane Golbs, in turn, brings a painterly approach rooted in the poetry of fleeting moments. Together they create a dialogue where design becomes the stage and art becomes the voice.
The iconic Hiding Rabbit Lamp by WERNS provides the sculptural foundation – clear, reduced, instantly recognizable. Juliane Golbs transforms this form into a canvas for storytelling, adding layers of paint, symbols, and textures.
This collaboration works so well because both partners share the same belief that objects are more than functional – they can carry emotion, memory, and cultural meaning. By merging art, design, culture, and fashion, WERNS and Golbs open a new space where light does not only illuminate but inspires.
The Venice Design Week was so inspired by this work that it has chosen the installation as the emblem and leitmotif of this year’s festival.
The live performance on October 11 marks the completion of the 3.5-meter Hiding Rabbit installation. To extend the spirit of the work beyond Venice, two unique pieces will be created for charity: a limited-edition Hiding Rabbit Lamp, hand-painted by the artist and a couture Thaden handbag, also handpainted by the artist. Both objects will be auctioned, with proceeds going to a charitable cause. This way, the installation does not only remain as an iconic symbol of the festival, but also becomes a contribution to society.
