Art as a Refuge: The Giudecca Women’s Prison Hosts the Vatican Pavilion at the Venice Biennale

In seven months, the doors of the Giudecca women’s prison in Venice, where the Vatican set up the Biennale Pavilion, have exceptionally opened to 20,000 visitors. Throughout the period of the sixtieth international art exhibition, they had the extraordinary opportunity to see the works on display, accompanied by the inmates who guided the visitors inside the penitentiary. The exhibition, titled ‘With My Eyes’ and curated by Chiara Parisi and Bruno Racine, features nine internationally renowned artists: Maurizio Cattelan, Bintou Dembélé, Simone Fattal, Claire Fontaine, Sonia Gomes, Corita Kent, Marco Perego & Zoe Saldana, Claire Tabouret.

The exceptional nature of the project, thanks to the collaboration of the Ministry of Justice, involved the possibility of entering the prison for a maximum of 100 people per day. On April 28th, Pope Francis inaugurated the path and, in the prison chapel, in front of the incarcerated women, he was moved: ‘I confess that next to you I do not feel like a stranger: I feel at home. And I think that, in reality, this applies to every human being, because, in all respects, art holds the status of a ‘city of refuge,’ an entity that disobeys the regime of violence and discrimination to create forms of human belonging capable of recognizing, including, protecting, embracing everyone.’

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Curator Chiara Parisi has repeatedly stated that everything was born from a ‘true and real’ encounter. ‘We have met extraordinary women who have worked with incredible determination, having to prove something that we have never been asked to prove. This project has created a deep, physical, and mental bond between us and them. And the most powerful thing? Seeing their desire to live, learn, and grow. The guides are the true heroines: not only for themselves but for all incarcerated women worldwide. With pride, they have chosen to demonstrate their worthiness – as worthy as the works they accompanied – to be seen and heard. Being guides, alongside such extraordinary works, has shown that there is an enormous potential for transformation. ‘With My Eyes’ was, first and foremost, the new perspective they turned toward themselves, with renewed awareness. This project has been and will be an inspiration. We will continue to visit the Giudecca Women’s Prison, which hosted us with such generosity and courage, building new ideas together, whether small or large.’

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