Robert Wilson's final performance 'Mother' staged at MAXXI Rome

Robert Wilson's posthumous performance-installation 'Mother,' centered on Michelangelo's Pietà Rondanini, premiered at MAXXI in Rome in January 2026, following its April 2025 presentation at Milan's Castello Sforzesco. The work, conceived as a total artwork and artistic testament, uses light, music (Arvo Pärt's Stabat Mater performed live by Vox Clamantis), and a 1953 plaster cast of the Pietà by Cesare Gariboldi. Curated by Oscar Pizzo, 'Mother' transforms the sculpture into a meditation on compassion and the human-divine relationship, referencing the Spanish Hospital room where the original is housed. The 23-minute performance is accompanied by 25 preparatory drawings shown for the first time. Installed in MAXXI's Galleria 5—designed by Zaha Hadid as an auditorium and now restored to its original function—the project inaugurates a new performing arts format for the museum. Artistic director Francesco Stocchi announced future site-specific works, including a piece by William Kentridge. Wilson died in July 2025 at age 83.