Venice Italy –
Pope Francis became the first pontiff to visit the Venice contemporary art festival during a trip in which he visited a women’s prison and rehabilitated the reputation of a pioneering American artist nun.
The pope, 87, traveled by helicopter to the northeastern Italian city on April 28 and landed at the Giudecca Island prison in the Venetian lagoon, which has been taken over by the Holy See for the eight-month biennale.
Curated by Chiara Parisi and Bruno Racine, the pavilion, titled “Con i miei occhi” (which translates as “With my eyes”), reflects the Pope’s concern for society’s marginalized, especially prisoners, and includes works by several female artists. Francis began his trip to Venice by greeting each of the approximately 80 inmates in the prison yard, several of whom are participating in the exhibition.
Poetry by some inmates has been posted on the walls of the prison, while others act in a short film by Italian director Marco Perego and his wife, actress Zoe Saldaña, star of the “Avatar” films. (Saldana plays a prisoner on the day of her release along with other inmates).
“Paradoxically, a stay in prison can mark the beginning of something new… as symbolized by the artistic event you are organizing,” Francisco told them. “Let us not forget that we all have mistakes to forgive and wounds to heal; me too”.
Later, in the prison chapel, the Pope met with artists involved in the biennial and the Holy See pavilion, where he told them that their work can help address racism, xenophobia, ecological “imbalance,” “fear of the poor” and inequality.
“The world needs artists,” he stressed.
Her meeting with them also marked a rehabilitation for Corita Kent, known as the “nun of pop art,” whose works are included in the Holy See pavilion but who in the past faced resistance from a powerful cardinal. During her speech, the Pope highlighted Kent – along with Frida Kahlo and Louise Bourgeois – as female artists whose works have “something important to teach us.”
Kent, a religious sister of the Immaculate Heart of Mary community in Los Angeles who later left the order, was known for her colorful screen prints that raised awareness of racial injustice and advocated for civil rights. But in the late 1950s and 1960s, her progressive religious order clashed with the then-Cardinal Archbishop of Los Angeles, James McIntyre, who especially disliked some of Kent’s artworks, calling them blasphemous.
Although he has battled health problems in recent months, Francis seemed upbeat and engaged while in Venice on a trip that lasted just five hours and was packed with events. At one point he joked with a local journalist about the weather and said that every time he goes to a prison he asks: “why them and not me?”
Francis toured Venice on a motorboat, in an open golf cart with the coat of arms of the Holy See and in his wheelchair, which he uses more and more due to his mobility difficulties.
Parallel to the trip to the women’s prison, Francis also held a meeting with young people, presided over an open-air mass in St. Mark’s Square, led the Sunday noon prayer and prayed before the relics of St. Mark in the basilica. .
During his homily, he warned of the threats facing Venice, including climate change, saying that rising sea levels mean the city “may cease to exist” and spoke about the need for “proper tourism management.” His visit comes just days after Venice began charging an entrance fee to day-trippers.
The Vatican first entered a pavilion for the biennale in 2013, but this is the first time it has been displayed in a prison. The 2024 pavilion was commissioned by its culture office, headed by Portuguese prelate Cardinal José Tolentino de Mendonça, an award-winning poet. The cardinal explained that the pavilion is an attempt to involve visitors “directly in reality.”
As it is a functioning prison, those who visit the Holy See pavilion must carry their cell phones, while the façade of the building is covered by a mural of the soles of two dirty feet by Maurizio Cattelan, known for his sculpture of the Pope John Paul II being hit by a meteorite.
The Venice Biennale was first held in 1895 and takes place every two years, with each country having its own pavilion (the Vatican is the smallest sovereign territory in the world). For 2024, it has adopted the theme “Foreigners Everywhere” and seeks to highlight artists from marginalized backgrounds.