To celebrate the 75th anniversary of bilateral relations between Indonesia and Italy, the Italian Cultural Institute of Jakarta is hosting a multimedia exhibition on the country’s famous mosaic art at Ciputra Artpreneur in Kuningan, South Jakarta.
“Mosaico: Italian Code of a Timeless Art” took place from August 7 to 28 and was organized in collaboration with the Italian Embassy and PT Piaggio Indonesia, the manufacturer of the popular Vespa brand.
The transmedia exhibition invites visitors to explore the deep connections between Italy’s culture, history and creativity through the art of mosaics, bringing together archival footage, graphic animations, audiovisual footage, drone and underwater filming, and a specially composed soundtrack provided before entering the gallery.
Although stone and glass cannot speak, the ancient tiles nevertheless tell the story of the development of mosaic art in Italy, especially in Rome, Pompeii, Aquileia, Ravenna, Palermo, Monreale, Piazza Armenia and Baiae.
“Mosaic art is an artistic technique discovered since 3,000 BC. It began with the mosaics in Mesopotamia and eventually spread throughout the Greek and Roman empires,” said Maria Battaglia, director of the Italian Cultural Institute, on August 6.
One of the works shown in the exhibition is the cycle of the Creation series, which decorates the Palatine Chapel in Palermo, Sicily, built in the Italian-Byzantine architectural style.
Mosaic art on a gold background covers all the surfaces of the chapel and illustrates stories from the lives of Jesus Christ, Saint Peter and Saint Paul. The image of Christ is wrapped in light, which is associated with life: living and walking in the light, escaping the darkness and becoming children of the light.
