Holy See Pavilion
60th INTERNATIONAL ART EXHIBITION
VENICE BIENNALE 2024
With my eyes
The Dicastery for Culture and Education is taking part, as a Promoting Body of the Holy See Pavilion, in the 60th International Art Exhibition – The Venice Biennale, which this year will be curated by Adriano Pedrosa, entitled “Stranieri Ovunque – Foreigners Everywhere”. The Pavilion is dedicated to the theme of human rights and the figure of the least, tenants of marginalized worlds, where are eyes rarely arrive. It is intended to promote the building of a culture of encounter, a central pivot of Pope Francis’ Magisterium. This desire gives rise to intertwining stories that may often seem alien to us, but which in reality concern us all, because they tell of the same hunger for love, the same desire for life, for affection, the same restlessness for meaning, everything that art has always sought to reflect and represent.
In collaboration with the Department of Prison Administration of the Ministry of Justice, from 20 April to 24 November 2024, the project entitled “With My Eyes” will be presented at the Giudecca Women's Prison.
The artistic proposal takes the words of the Holy Father to the letter, when he exhorts us to come out and look people in the eyes, inviting visitors to pay attention to those realities that are frequently considered peripheral, and which are often excluded from cultural debate.
The Commissioner, Cardinal José Tolentino de Mendonça, prefect of the Dicastery for Culture and Education, has appointed Chiara Parisi and Bruno Racine as curators of the Holy See Pavilion.
With internationally renowned artists: Maurizio Cattelan, Bintou Dembélé, Simone Fattal, Claire Fontaine, Sonia Gomes, Corita Kent, Marco Perego & Zoe Saldana, Claire Tabouret and, the special participation of Hans Ulrich Obrist.
In early March, an official press conference will be held in the Holy See Press Office to present the project.
Chiara Parisi: Born in Rome, an art historian, she directs the Centre Pompidou-Metz. After her doctorate at the La Sapienza University of Rome, she trained as a curator at the Francia-Villa Medici Academy. She has directed the Monnaie de Paris and the Centre international d’art et du paysage de l’île de Vassivière in France.
Bruno Racine: Director of Palazzo Grassi – Punta della Dogana, he has served as the director of highly important cultural institutions, such as the Centre Georges Pompidou and the Bibliothèque Nationale de France. The author of literary works including novels and books on Italy, he directed the Academy of France in Rome from 1997 to 2002, opening Villa Medici to contemporary art and to Italian artists.
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