Venus
Valentino Garavani through the eyes of Joana Vasconcelos
In the solemn rhythm of Piazza Mignanelli – the intimate Roman threshold that borders Piazza di Spagna and preserves the history of Valentino Garavani – PM23 presents a new chapter in the journey imagined by Valentino Garavani and Giancarlo Giammetti, an expression of the artistic and cultural experience of their Foundation and the starting point of a renewed commitment: to give back to the city an exhibition space dedicated to art, fashion and culture, seen as tools for dialogue, growth, and social progress. A place, both physical and ideal, where beauty is not a static concept but a driving force, capable of generating meaning and transformation. Dense with meaning and profoundly evocative, the exhibition offers a non-linear journey, combining representative works by Joana Vasconcelos with surprising new site-specific pieces inspired by Valentino Garavani’s legacy.
VENUS, the title given to the Valkyrie and thus to the entire exhibition, is therefore the result of an artistic dialogue, a massive and ambitious participatory art project: 756 hours of workshops, over 200 participants of all ages, and over 200 kg of crocheted pieces made by participants in every corner of the city – from the center to the outskirts – and sent to the artist’s studio in Lisbon. A flow that converges in a single, collective artistic gesture, a powerful symbol of the transmission of know-how and tradition, transformed into a vehicle for empowerment and emancipation, shared care, and individual and collective resistance: art as an agent of change, a tool for re-signification, education and solidarity
A participatory project in the broadest sense, capable of generating new communities not only within individual contexts but also through cross-fertilization with external realities. Students from the Academies, in addition to participating in their own workshops, were able to enrich the experience by collaborating at the other partners’ locations, crossing places and stories, giving rise to unexpected, meaningful connections.
With this project, PM23 stands as a living testament to the belief that beauty is not only to be contemplated, but to be shared: a place where art and fashion meet to generate culture, inspire dialogue, and open new horizons for collective vision.
WHERE
Rome, Palazzo Mignanelli
WHEN
Form 18/01 to 31/05
GETTING THERE
About 30 minutes from Parisii’s Gesthouse
