2025 Villa Carlotta, Museum and Botanical Garden (Hall of Plaster Casts) – Lake Como
Materials: indian cotton fabric tiles, rice, flowers (Rose – Hydrangea – Dianthus barbatus), sound, scented essence
Dimensions: 6 x 12 meters
During the opening evening, the female choir Hildegard von Bingen, founded and directed by Tiziana Fumagalli, performed songs from the Saint’s repertoire. The spiritual choral music was recorded to be replayed during the exhibit.
Elena Di Raddo presents the ephemeral work (for the permanent one, see No. 71):
“For Maria Dompè, the search for beauty and harmony is not limited to the codes of visual arts such as form and color, but lies in the creation of a condition of vital energy and spiritual balance. Her works show a dynamic and evolving approach where time is an essential, integral element. In the two installations designed for Villa Carlotta, dedicated to ‘all the women who are not allowed to realize their dreams’, and time itself is a foundational theme.
The ephemeral environmental installation, created for the inauguration, lasted only briefly — the lifespan of the white rose petals and flowers from Villa Carlotta’s garden, arranged harmoniously and delicately in the Hall of Plaster Casts along with rice and fabric fragments. A work of relational art, it originated from a workshop led by the Roman artist at the Brera Academy with students from Prof. Livia Crispolti’s Textile Culture course. Among the white Indian cotton fabric tiles, arranged in an open circular shape, are drawings, embroidery, and writings made by female students expressing their thoughts on women’s conditions. In many parts of the world, women are denied education, work, and dreams, crushed by a brutal patriarchal culture. Sadly, this situation is still all too common even in the modern Western world, where violent acts rooted in outdated patriarchal thinking, even among the young, are daily news. Amplified by social media, these actions force many women to fight every day for their rightful place in the world. The theme is not tackled through direct or explicit language but through Maria Dompè’s sensitive art, creating a harmonious space in perfect symbiosis with the neoclassical sculptures lining the room’s walls: the materials rest on the ground, forming an open circle that does not end at the edges but seems to continue beyond the room’s borders.
The white fabrics, reminiscent of the sarees worn by Indian widows — forced in some castes to erase themselves after their husband’s death — combine with the red petals around the edges of the composition, which dissolve into the blue hydrangea petals at the center. A symbol of cosmic and spiritual harmony.”
Maria Dompè states: “Let us educate future generations to the contagious harmony of Nature, to the power of a renewed balance between humanity and Nature itself. If through flowers we could cultivate kindness of spirit, the entire planet would breathe a new air of tolerance. Giving a flower to reaffirm the value of feelings. One, ten, a hundred Villa Carlottas as a manifesto for a new culture of greenery and mutual respect!”