The Vatican will present an exhibition at the 18th Venice Architecture Biennale beginning on May 20. It is an internationally renowned event that showcases both classical and modern artwork from around the world.
At the event, the Vatican will convey the simplicity of the Benedictine rule with a garden in the Abbey of San Giorgio Maggiore in Venice. The exhibition is titled “Social friendship: meeting in the garden.”
According to the Dicastery for Culture and Education, it is also a way of celebrating the ten years of Pope Francis' pontificate and the dialogue he has established with the world.
CARD. JOSÉ TOLENTINO DE MENDONÇA
Prefect, Dicastery for Culture and Education
We want to see how some of the main ideas of this pontificate can be key to a dialogue with contemporary architecture and converge in a vision that takes the risk of imagining a different future.
According to Cardinal Tolentino de Mendonça, the exhibition revolves around Pope Francis' encyclicals Laudato si' and Fratelli Tutti.
CARD. JOSÉ TOLENTINO DE MENDONÇA
Prefect, Dicastery for Culture and Education
The two texts help us not only to make a critical, precise and sincere diagnosis of the present, but also challenge us to raise our gaze, rediscovering the capacity to dream with determination of the prophecy of a better world.
That is why the Vatican presents architecture of friendly and open spaces to the world. The exhibition also includes these human-shaped sculptures by the Portuguese architect Alvaro Siza.
The garden was designed by Studio Albori, an architectural and landscape studio based in Milan. They built an orchard, chicken coop, barn and rest area from recycled materials. They aim to revive the values of the Benedictine Order and “create a place of silence to reflect on how to start again.”
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