The idea for the Universe Pavilion was born more than a decade ago in the mind of Claudia Kessler — space engineer, entrepreneur, and lifelong lover of Venice. As a regular visitor to the Venice Biennale, Claudia was fascinated by the way nations from around the world used their national pavilions to express their cultural identities through art. Yet, one thing always struck her: there was no space pavilion — no dedicated space where humanity’s greatest collective endeavor, the exploration of the universe, could be reflected through artistic expression.
In spring 2023, this vision started to become reality. Claudia met Janine Thüngen, a renowned artist with a deep curiosity for the cosmos, black holes, and the infinite questions of the universe. The two women instantly connected, both creatively and personally, and quickly decided to bring the Universe Pavilion to life.
That summer, their team grew with the addition of Claudia Schnugg, a leading curator at the intersection of art and science, who was introduced to the project by Svenja Reichenbach, a consultant and advisor to the Pavilion. With their shared passion and complementary talents, the core team of three women set out on a mission that was as ambitious as it was inspiring.
The road was not easy. While their enthusiasm burned brightly, it was tested by the practical challenges of bringing such a bold, independent project to life — especially the uphill battle of securing funding, without the backing of any government or major institution.
Still, the Universe Pavilion stands today, in the heart of Venice during the Venice Biennale 2025, as a testament to what can be achieved through passion, perseverance, and belief in a shared vision. A pavilion not bound by borders or flags, but dedicated to the universe itself — the ultimate frontier that unites us all.
Behind it is the story of three visionary women, countless late nights, and one big idea that refused to remain a dream.
And while this may be the first Universe Pavilion, it is only the beginning of a larger mission — to establish space as a permanent and inspiring part of the artistic dialogue at Venice for years to come.
A life dedicated to spaceflight- fascinated by the Moon landing in 1969, the then four-year-old Claudia decides that one day she too will fly into space!
Communication and outreach of space content has always been her passion, she is a well-known speaker at company events and public shows. In 2023 she founded the Universe Pavilion together with Janine Thungen and Claudia Schnugg, to bring the dimension of space through an art and architecture exhibition to Venice.
Since 1990 she has worked as a space engineer, manager and entrepreneur in the space field.
Her passion for astronauts and human spaceflight led her to work in various areas of human spaceflight, from the first missions of German astronauts to the Russian MIR station, through the responsibility for the commercial use of the International Space Station.
Claudia is an entrepreneur and visionary. In 2017 she founded Astronautin GmbH to ensure the female future of (traditionally “manned”) astronautical space travel. Claudia Kessler has a clear goal: to get the first German woman into space. The new female astronaut will become an inspiration to encourage young women into technology professions. For this she built and privately organized an astronaut selection and training program that can also be applied to other needs.
As CEO of HE Space from 2004 to 2018, a personnel service provider specializing in space professionals, Claudia achieved a 55% representation of women among her 200 technical employees. The Family-Friendly certificate, the Diversity Charter, and the Diversity Personality of the Year 2016 awards are just a few examples of the results of her numerous campaigns to improve the position of women in technical professions who are also balancing work and family.
Today, she offers her experience in the areas of leadership, strategy, market development, business development, as well as her network to space start-ups and other companies as consultancy service.
Claudia Kessler is a qualified aerospace engineer, the holder of an MBA, and has more than 30 years of experience in the international space industry.
Janine Thüngen Reichenbach is an all-encompassing artist who lives and works in Rome. She was born in Germany and has been working as a professional sculptor for 20 years, earning international acclaim. Her sculptures and installations can be found in museums, public spaces and important private collections in many countries around the world. She also collaborates with public and private organizations, educational institutions, charitable organizations, architects’ studios and other artists. She is also the founder of BEAWARENOW.
Janine’s sculptures are created from a variety of materials ranging from the traditional bronze, clay and glass to more unusual such as rubber, hemp, water, sound and even plants. The artist creates works of multiple sizes that expand in scale: from portable sculptures to sculptures of monumental proportions. There are many sound and land art installations.
Janine is inspired by the contrasts and juxtapositions found in humans, nature and space; the interactions between these elements are at the heart of her works. Time and space cadence the becoming of her work, which, always in constant search of new cues, also evolves through the fundamental co-participation with the viewer: the work created lives on this interaction, speaks with its materials and reflects the innumerable impressions that the interpreter of the work, that is, the viewer, makes of it.
Dr. Claudia Schnugg is an international curator of art and science collaboration and a scholar researching the intersections of art and aesthetics with science, technology, and organizations based in Austria. As social and economic scientist with an additional background in cultural science, her recent work is focused on intertwining artists and art projects with new technologies and scientific research. She has explored effects of artistic interventions on social settings, especially framing artistic interventions and art programs in organizations. 2019 Springer/Palgrave MacMillan published her book Creating ArtScience Collaboration. Claudia curates art-science collaborations, artist-in-residence programs, media art projects as well as various projects intertwining art, science, technology, and innovation in business, industry, scientific and cultural organizations.
Her work has resulted in more than 40 major projects at locations all over the world, with significant exhibition, publication, residency, research and art production outcomes. Currently she is a visiting lecturer in the Art x Science PhD programme at JKU, Linz, Austria. Previously, she was the principal investigator of the DIGI-Sense project at Johannes Kepler University Linz. She was also visiting scientist at UCLA Art|Sci Center + Lab,at the European Southern Observatory and at Copenhagen Business School. She worked with institutions like Pro Helvetia, Science Gallery International, The Dock at Accenture, providing support in developing research proposals and artscience research opportunities. She curates residency programs, including at acib Vienna, European Space Agency/ESTEC, at Helmholtz Center München, at the EC funded ITN network RepliFate, and Resonances IV at the Joint Research Center of the European Commission. Other partners include: BIFOLD (TU Berlin), Marginal, Quo Artis, STARTS, and EPFL Pavilion. Most recent exhibitions include NaturArchy (iMAL, Brussels, 2024), The Mutability of Memories and Fates (Alte Saline Hallein, 2024), Intersecting Realities (Palatul Stefania, Cultural Capital Timisoara, 2023), Cosmic Elements: Star-Pacing Songs (Times Art Museum Beijing, 2023, China Resources Tower Arts Center, Shenzhen 2023, Times Art Museum Chengdu 2024), and Cosmological Elements (Fosun Foundation, Shanghai, 2022). Claudia is a regular member of international juries for art prizes, residency projects, and scientific boards for artscience projects.
