Vatican City, Mar 11, 2024 / 11:18 am
Visiting prisoners is one of the Catholic Church’s corporal works of mercy originating with Jesus’ words in the Gospel of Matthew: “I was in prison and you visited me.”
All visitors to the 2024 Venice Biennale’s Vatican pavilion will take part in this Catholic tradition by entering an active women’s prison on Venice’s Giudecca island, where the inmates will play an active role in the exhibition of works by nine professional artists.
Upon arrival, visitors to the Vatican pavilion titled “With My Eyes” will be forced to leave their cellphones and IDs at the door, following the typical security protocols for family members visiting inmates.
Chiara Parisi, one of the curators of the Vatican pavilion, explained that an added benefit of making the visitors relinquish their cellphones is that people will be forced “to let go of this instrument through which they are accustomed to looking at reality around them” and to behold the art “with their own eyes.”