Adrian Paci's 'Conciliazione 5' Project in Rome

Italian-Albanian artist Adrian Paci presents two works in Rome as part of the 'Conciliazione 5' project, curated by Cristiana Perrella and promoted by the Dicastery for Culture and Education of the Holy See for the Jubilee. The project addresses migration. In the gallery space on Via della Conciliazione, Paci shows 'Home to Go' (2001), a sculpture depicting the artist carrying an inverted roof shaped like wings, symbolizing migrant precarity. The work reflects Paci's own experience of forced relocation from Albania to Italy in 1997. Inside the Corsia Sistina of the Complesso Monumentale di Santo Spirito in Sassia, Paci presents the three-channel video installation 'The bell tolls upon the waves' (2024), inspired by a 1566 event off Termoli where Turks attempted to steal the Bell of Santa Caterina, causing the boat to sink. Paci built a bell on a floating platform activated by sea waves and documented the operation. The video, produced by Fondazione Giorgio Pace, is shown in Italy for the first time. Cardinal José Tolentino de Mendonça, a supporter of contemporary art's role in interpreting current issues, endorsed the project.