The exhibition held in the Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana, one of the world’s oldest surviving public libraries, is no less poignant. In the space’s first hall, Monia Ben Hamouda’s striking double-high neon installation comprises flame-like flickers of abstracted Arabic calligraphy, gesturing towards the fragility of language. Beneath the Renaissance main hall’s frescoed ceiling, Favaretto presents her very own library, a selection of books hand-picked by the artist, lining a shelf running down the centre of the space. In a deeply generous gesture, attendees are invited to pick a book from the shelves and leaf through its pages in the space – each volume interrupted by an image selected from the artist’s personal archive – destabilising the conventional relationship between artwork and observer, and also highlights the humanity and intimacy intrinsic in the act of knowledge sharing.
While the pavilion is a direct activity on the part of Bulgari the brand, the exhibition is the first major public-facing contemporary art activity on the part of Fondazione Bulgari, a foundation established by the brand to ensure that artistic programming remains at the heart of the brand in perpetuity. While it may all sound heady and esoteric, both exhibitions feel pretty accessible in the context of what else is on in town – and, moreover, highlight the sincerity that fuels the brand’s commitment to platforming artists. While, elsewhere, Bulgari does develop initiatives that bring artists into dialogue with the more commercial-facing side of its business – its Serpenti in Art handbag capsule, for example – here, there’s not a hint of product. The artists are given space for the sake of cultural production and little else.
Again, Bulgari is not alone in this respect, but what does feel fresh is the brand’s professed intentions – the fact that the three selected artists for this initial major activation within and around one of the world’s most significant exhibitions are women, for example, is no coincidence. “We are trying to foster the development of artists, prioritising women artists,” Babin explains. “We are a world-famous jeweller thanks to women, and it’s as a tribute to women that we feel that, whenever we can, we should promote young women talents in the field of art.”
Ultimately, it boils down to a vision anchored in the preservation of artistic and cultural history, with a long-term commitment to shaping and strengthening its future. “The art of today has been influenced by the art of yesterday, and will inevitably influence the art of tomorrow,” he says, “and Bulgari is a brand that privileges partnerships rooted in longevity, continuity and loyalty,” an ethos that runs as a fil rouge through everything from its existing artistic partnerships to ambassadorial relationships with the likes of Priyanka Chopra and Anne Hathaway. If the first chapter in this particular relationship, set to unfold over at least another four-and-half years, is anything to go by, its future is one set sparkle as bright as any Bulgari gem.