A grate is pulled back and an enormous metal door swings open to what will become the official entrance to Museo Sant’Orsola, with an expected opening in 2026. Abandoned for 40 years, the historic building is yet to bear much evidence of its future guise as a cultural centre, providing an intriguing opportunity to witness the rawness of the convent turned tobacco factory turned refugee shelter that currently hosts artworks by French artist Juliette Minchin and Italian artist Marta Roberti in an exhibition titled Rivelazioni, on display until October 27. Behind the exhibition’s curation is Morgane Lucquet Laforgue, the museum director who took the reins of the project in 2022.
Laforgue’s studies in Rome and Florence (cultural events management at Palazzo Spinelli) were followed at the Sorbonne and Louvre, with research in museum creation. We crunch across gravel to the central courtyard, where ivy creeps up the windowless walls, and stroll through the ever-increasing accessible areas of the 17,000 square metre space, both bareness and vastness sparking curiosity as to how it may have been perceived upon her first visit. “I was under no illusions. When I saw all the cement, I immediately set to thinking about how we could transform it into creative opportunities. It brought me to think about street art and the ephemeral nature of those works, given the transition phase of the complex. It offers the possibility to create works entirely freely before the building is transformed by protection requirements, making such works impossible. We first invited street artist Alberto Ruce to create an installation suspended over the foundations of the historic church, and large murals were painted in the former apothecary, evoking the pharmaceutical activities practiced by the nuns. Sophia Kisielewska-Dunbar then created a triptych exploring the martyrdom of female saints. I wanted to take advantage of this transition period to explore the site’s potential and interact with the bareness.”
Considerable attention is paid to the layers of history spread across the multi-level monument, with the dialogue between the past and present at the core of Sant’Orsola’s artistic mission. The heavy grey walls of the former tobacco factory illustrate the site’s more recent occupation, but the former “outside” church just to the left belies centuries before that. Founded in 1309 as a Benedictine convent, it passed to the Franciscans in 1435 and operated as a tobacco factory from 1818 to 1940 before becoming a centre for refugees and displaced persons from 1945 to 1968. It was subsequently intended to be a barracks for the finance police in the 1980s, but the plan (and building) was later abandoned. Now, we reach the present, where the museum’s mission is to preserve the memories of the place and bring them into its future with Storia at its helm, the art arm of French company, Artea.
“Upon entering, there was excitement in thinking what we might uncover. I dared to dream about a Botticelli or fragment of a fresco, but really there were few spaces left in their integrity. The old church, where we are currently displaying Minchin’s works, originally had far higher ceilings, but now we find the windows from the time of the tobacco factory, and it’s been split into two levels.” The most impressive element of the space, however, is wonderfully restored. The crypt that was uncovered in 2013-14 contains the remains of Lisa Gherardini, the alleged Mona Lisa muse, and provides a haunting canvas for the contemporary works that spill between centuries and realms, as wax waves ripple outwards, or inwards, as your interpretation may fancy.
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The importance of each creator’s connection is explicit. “The artist’s impression is important because you can immediately ascertain whether there’s a feeling for the space or not. It’s also a place to speak to the female condition. Female artists were chosen to reflect the nuns of the convent and the predominantly female workers of the factory. I discovered Juliette’s work more than a year ago through a magazine and I knew that this could be something special. She immediately wanted to come and see the space, which is vital given that the works are so site-specific.” The resulting works are certainly effective, as the scent of smoke wafts while Juliette Minchin’s waxworks slowly melt and candles lit in the former apothecary create a somewhat chilling reminder of those who walked amongst the candles lit long ago.
Moving along, we meet Marta Roberti’s works in the second church and subsequently the basement, where stop-motion and drawings are used to reflect on the living conditions of the nuns in the 14th century. The church is cast as an enormous imaginary nun’s cell, where delicate drawings are created on organic gampi paper that the artist assembles, giving the effect of an ever-growing fresco. The stories of saints are through a female gaze, with nature and spirituality omnipresent. Wooden steps lead down to the basement, where the cries of an illustrated bush baby ring out from a dimly lit corner and projections of birds give a paradoxical sense of freedom in an underground vault.
Something will remain of all the exhibitions carried out thus far, just as something remains of all the monument’s historic guises, with the future museum retaining commissions from these first exhibitions. Words by refugees will also be gathered, with accounts from those who lived here adding further emotion to the experience. Laforgue details, “There were people who lived here when they were five or six years old, who had strong reactions when they came to see the exhibition. Tears were shed.”
This summer gave another taste of the complex’s capabilities, when the cloister was set up with a cinema screen and 150 seats from July 1 to September 8. The future of Sant’Orsola even features an art school, café, restaurant, and venues for theatre, dance, and all cultural collaborations. Ultimately, the parting message is to grab this opportunity to access a museum in the making that leaves an indelible impression, an emotion like no other, with the ghosts of former occupants admiring it with you.
