As part of his scheduled one-day visit to the Italian city, Pope Francis has announced that he will be making an appearance at the Venice Biennale on April 28, 2024. The visit marks the first time the current Bishop of Rome will attend the biennial.
The Vatican Dicastery for Culture and Education announced on Tuesday that Pope Francis will visit Venice. During his one-day pastoral visit to the Italian city, the Pope will make a stop at the 60th International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia 2024.
The 60th International Art Exhibition, one of the most significant events in the world of contemporary art, has as its theme foreigners and marginalized people. This year’s event has made headlines due to what organizers have described as a special emphasis on “queer” artists, though the Holy Father’s visit will mainly center around the Vatican’s human rights exhibition.
The Pope will go to the Holy See pavilion, which will take place this year in the women’s prison at Venice’s Giudecca Island. According to a statement issued by the Vatican Dicastery for Culture and Education, Chiara Parisi and Bruno Racine are curators of the exhibition, “With My Eyes,” which is devoted to the topic of human rights.
“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,” reads the statement.
The Holy See, the government of the Catholic Church, has maintained a presence at the biennial since 2013. The pavilion was initiated by Benedict XVI, who encouraged a renewed relationship between the Church and the arts during his papal tenure.
The last time a pope made a pastoral visit to the city of Venice was 13 years ago, when Benedict XVI visited on May 7 and 8, 2011. Prior to that, John Paul II had visited in 1985.
According to artnet, the Pope welcomed around 200 artists—among them Andres Serrano of Piss Christ fame—to the Vatican’s Sistine Chapel in a celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Vatican’s contemporary art collection. Pope Francis believed that the goal of the artists present was to create harmony and beauty, despite the fact that some of them use confrontational techniques in their work to get viewers to think. He claimed that the beauty of art exalts God and arouses desire for him.
About the Curators
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.
