Fondazione Compagnia di San Paolo is supporting the JR exhibition at Gallerie d’Italia, involving several other local organisations with which it is committed to building more inclusive societies.

From 9 February to 16 July 2023, Intesa San Paolo’s Gallerie d’Italia in Turin will be hosting the first solo exhibition by French artist JR, famous for his projects that combine photography, public art and social commitment. Curated by Arturo Galansino and produced in collaboration with Fondazione Compagnia di San Paolo, the exhibition was conceived by the artist to illustrate reality and stimulate thought about social fragility.

Fondazione Compagnia di San Paolo has supported Intesa Sanpaolo in planning strategies for Gallerie d’Italia, at Piazza San Carlo, ever since its establishment” – said Francesco Profumo Chair of Fondazione Compagnia di San Paolo at this morning’s press conference held to mark the opening of the exhibition. “The museum is intended to be a cultural hub, open to the whole city, that explores the complexity of the future challenges related to environmental, social and economic sustainability. Fondazione Compagnia di San Paolo has supported JR’s Déplacé∙e∙s exhibition at Gallerie d’Italia with its extensive network of relationships, involving various local organisations with which it is committed to build more inclusive societies in the events surrounding the exhibition. Pursuing this commitment also involves awareness-raising, training and information activities that contribute to promoting a new and more balanced view of migration”.

Issues surrounding migration and refugees are increasingly topical and have been a feature of JR’s work for some time. The Déplacé∙e∙s project, which began in 2022, brings together for the first time various photographs taken by the artist in several critical areas, from war-torn Ukraine to Mbera in Mauritania, Cúcuta in Colombia to Lesbos in Greece and the vast refugee camps in Mugombwa, Rwanda.
The artist’s aim is to make people viewing his work reflect on the difficult conditions in which thousands of people find themselves today due to conflicts, wars, famines and climate change, and to involve people normally excluded from the artistic and cultural circuit in supporting the values of freedom, imagination, creativity and participation.

Notwithstanding its ephemeral nature, JR’s art has a strong impact on society and the world in which we all live.

A busy programme of events has been organised around the exhibition as part of the #INSIDE public programme which, through meetings with personalities from the world of culture, will allow people to reflect more deeply on the issues raised by the exhibition. Fondazione Compagnia di San Paolo is working with Gallerie d’Italia and involving various local organisations with which it is committed to building more inclusive societies in the events surrounding the exhibition.