Chagall and Maria Lai Dialogue in Ulassai Exhibition

The exhibition 'Chagall con Maria Lai. Il villaggio interiore' opens June 13 at Fondazione Stazione dell'Arte in Ulassai, Sardinia, celebrating the foundation's 20th anniversary. Curated by Paul Schneiter and Marco Peri, it features over 70 works including paintings, engravings, artist's books, weavings, and works on paper, juxtaposing Marc Chagall and Maria Lai. The show explores how both artists transformed their native villages—Vitebsk for Chagall, Ulassai for Lai—into universal poetic geographies. Chagall's dreamlike, floating figures and symbolic animals contrast with Lai's tactile, sewn narratives and communal art. The exhibition avoids didactic parallels, instead creating a resonant dialogue between two imaginative 20th-century figures. It is promoted by the Comune di Ulassai, produced by Fondazione Stazione dell'Arte with Arthemisia, and funded by the European Union's NextGenerationEU program under the PNRR for cultural regeneration of small towns. The foundation opened on July 8, 2006, by Maria Lai's will and the municipal administration, conceived as a living legacy and community space.