THE MEETING, SYMBOL OF PEACE (24.02.23 – 24.03.23)

“Not soldiers posted behind fortifications but sculptures – The Silent Muses – having first inspired poetry, the Muse now defends it as the last bulwark against barbarism and death.” (Luca Beatrice)

Among the dozens of wars being fought all over the planet, 24 February this year reminds us that 12 months have already gone by since war broke out between Russia and Ukraine.

Measuring 10 x 6 metres, this installation will stand in front of the imposing great Palace of Justice in Rome: made up of jute sacks, it depicts a kind of military fortification with a Silent Muse – a sculpture – as its heart: The Encoun- ter (4 metres high).

The Encounter – a symbol of union between different cultures – seeks to takes us further, towards the hope of acquiring that awareness which in this work sets everything in motion from a single point to bring us, after a thou- sand intricate pathways, closely and equally together.

This is why, in this particular moment in history brimming with contrasts and tensions, proposing the theme of meeting and dialogue between our differences takes on a high symbolic meaning.

The theme of the Silent Muses, now as never before as warfare continues in the heart of Europe, becomes a sym- bol of startling relevance in defence of our values and our culture against the barbarism of war. .

The installation, with its jute sacks (inevitably destined to disintegrate rapidly), also symbolically seeks to empha- size the concept of transience of human nature and its natural tendency towards failure.

It is in this context, faced with the awareness of the ineluctable fragility and transience of human life, that conflicts between peoples should lose all meaning.

Visitors will also be encouraged to stop and think by the “peace quotations” printed on the jute bags themselves, in the hope that only generalised acquisition of awareness can, in the near future, free us from war.

I personally believe that we are all leaves on the same tree, we are all cells of the same organism, we are all One… and I see that these concepts are increasingly coming to the fore even in modern studies into quantum physics.

The intention of this installation, nevertheless, is not to provide my own answers but to ask questions, prompting everyone to find their own personal answers.

Gianfranco Meggiato