Bill Viola's 'The Raft' Installed at Palazzo Te in Mantua

Bill Viola's 2004 video work 'The Raft' is on view at Palazzo Te in Mantua, Italy, juxtaposed with Giulio Romano's 1532-34 fresco 'Fall of the Giants'. The installation leads visitors from the Camera dei Giganti through a dim room into the dark space of the video, where 19 people of diverse ethnicities, genders, and backgrounds are suddenly hit by violent jets of water from both sides. The slow-motion sequence, accompanied by Dolby Surround sound, shows individuals struggling, collapsing, or supporting others. After the storm, survivors help each other, suggesting rebirth. Viola uses water as a primordial catastrophe to address contemporary traumas of the 2000s, hidden beneath comfort. The work references Théodore Géricault's 'The Raft of the Medusa' as a timeless symbol of survival.