Imago Mundi: Map of the New Art

“Imago Mundi: Map of the New Art” at the Fondazione Giorgio Cini on the Island of St. Giorgio Maggiore in Venice from September 1-November 1, 2015 is the largest exhibition to date of the Luciano Benetton Collection, a collection of works commissioned and collected by Luciano Benetton on his travels around the world. Sourced from more than 38 collections, the exhibition comprises 6,930 works by emerging and established artists whose only restriction is the 10x12cm (3.9x4.7inches) format.

Under the auspices of the Fondazione Benetton Studi Ricerche, the Imago Mundi project commissions 10 x 12 cm works by established and emerging artists from around the world which are then organized by geographical location with the aim of “mapping the situation of human cultures at the start of the third millennium.” By the end of 2015 the project will have engaged more than 20,000 artists from over 100 countries and indigenous people.

The Venice exhibition includes works by artists from Afghanistan, Algeria, Brazil, Bulgaria, Caribbean, Colombia, Croatia, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iran, Israel, Jordan, Latvia, Mexico, Nigeria, North Korea, Italy, United States of America, Philippines, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Syria, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Tibet, Tunisia, Uganda/Rwanda/Burundi, and Vienna, as well as works by Kalahari Bushmen, North American Indigenous Artists, and Australian Aboriginal Artists.

“Ideas, meanings and inspirations are not monopolized products, but fluid and evolving expressions born of interaction and communication between East and West, North and South, and through the convergence of cultural experience,” says Luciano Benetton. “We look to the new frontiers of art—personalities, countries, emerging languages and different cultures—to foster openness towards the world and the coexistence of expressive diversity.”

“Map of the New Art” is at at the Fondazione Giorgio Cini on the island of San Giorgio Maggiore in Venice, Italy from September 1-November 1, 2015.

BLOUIN