“Io contengo moltitudini” is an installation by artist Marinella Senatore displayed at the Rebibbia penitentiary and commissioned by the Vatican's Dicastery of Culture and Education and curated by Cristiana Perrella as part of the 2025 Jubilee celebrations. The luminary installation was selected and displayed by the artist as an inspiration of hope and humanity in a place where people need it most, a correction facility. For this reason I avoided isolating the artwork and instead I looked at it from the perspective of the people living and working in the prison.
The Padre Nostro prison church was "probably" designed by italian architect Sergio Lenci sometime in the early second half of the 20th century, so as most of the rest of the facility. The project has warm brick covering most of the buildings which transmits a sense of urban belonging rather than resistance.
Photos courtesy of Mazzoleni art gallery Torino-London.
2024 © Mazen Jannoun
