Conferences and Events Program
Event
Giovanni Gardini obtained a Baccalaureate in Theology and a Licence in Theology of Evangelisation at the Academic Theological Study of Bologna. He is currently an associate professor at the Theological Faculty of San Tommaso d’Aquino in Rome. After getting his diploma at the Accademia di Belle Arti in Ravenna, he obtained both a Baccalaureate and a Licence in Christian archaeology at the Pontificio Istituto of Christian Architecture, in Rome. Giovanni’s master's degree was about History, protection and conservation of pieces of art and he graduated at the Faculty of Cultural Heritage at the Bologna University, in Ravenna. He has always been engaged in the research and dissemination of the artistic heritage, with a special focus on the Christian iconographic tradition. He has played the pivotal role of curator in many different exhibitions and conferences. Giovanni has also written several articles and essays, and he currently teaches at the Higher Institutes of Religious Sciences in Rimini and Florence. He holds the positions of director of the Diocesan Museum and the Card. Cicognani of the Diocese of Faenza-Modigliana and Director of the Cardinal Giacomo Lercaro Museum of Art in Bologna. In addition, he is a publicist journalist. For the following five-year period 2020-2025, he has been holding the position of President AMEI, Association of Italian Ecclesiastical Museums.
Guided tour of the exhibition - "Chasuble of Artist"
“Casule d'artista” is a project by Atelier Sirio, an artisan atelier which was founded in 1995. It designs and creates custom liturgical vestments and restores textiles. For years, it has been focused on making unique creations, sometimes collaborating with artists, designers, architects, and weavers.
After a first edition in 2023 involving four Italian artists - Rachele Biaggi, Lucia Bubilda Nanni, Elvis Spadoni, and Enrico Versari - the research project on chasubles continues, always under the direction of Giovanni Gardini, thanks to the collaboration of four other artists who accepted the invitation to establish a dialogue with the great tradition of liturgical vestments, each reinterpreting it according to his/her own poetics. The artists involved in this second edition of the project are: Francesca Dondoglio, CaCO3 - a collective of mosaicists composed by Âniko Ferreira da Silva, Giuseppe Donnaloia, and Pavlos Mavromatidis - Luca Moscariello, and Antonello Ghezzi, a duo formed by Nadia Antonello and Paolo Ghezzi. In addition to these, there is a work of the Fondazione Beato Angelico, a very important liturgy research center.
The creative work is carried out by artists in close collaboration with Atelier Sirio and Giovanni Gardini, curator of the project. It will be showcased in a series of exhibitions in diocesan museums, cathedrals, and monasteries, with a particular focus on the events of the 2025 Jubilee and DEVOTIO 2026.
The 10 chasubles are on display at DEVOTIO 2026.
After a first edition in 2023 involving four Italian artists - Rachele Biaggi, Lucia Bubilda Nanni, Elvis Spadoni, and Enrico Versari - the research project on chasubles continues, always under the direction of Giovanni Gardini, thanks to the collaboration of four other artists who accepted the invitation to establish a dialogue with the great tradition of liturgical vestments, each reinterpreting it according to his/her own poetics. The artists involved in this second edition of the project are: Francesca Dondoglio, CaCO3 - a collective of mosaicists composed by Âniko Ferreira da Silva, Giuseppe Donnaloia, and Pavlos Mavromatidis - Luca Moscariello, and Antonello Ghezzi, a duo formed by Nadia Antonello and Paolo Ghezzi. In addition to these, there is a work of the Fondazione Beato Angelico, a very important liturgy research center.
The creative work is carried out by artists in close collaboration with Atelier Sirio and Giovanni Gardini, curator of the project. It will be showcased in a series of exhibitions in diocesan museums, cathedrals, and monasteries, with a particular focus on the events of the 2025 Jubilee and DEVOTIO 2026.
The 10 chasubles are on display at DEVOTIO 2026.
Speakers
Giovanni Gardini
Director of Lercaro Museum, Bologna
Giovanni Gardini obtained a Baccalaureate in Theology and a Licence in Theology of Evangelisation at the Academic Theological Study of Bologna. He is currently an associate professor at the Theological Faculty of San Tommaso d’Aquino in Rome. After getting his diploma at the Accademia di Belle Arti in Ravenna, he obtained both a Baccalaureate and a Licence in Christian archaeology at the Pontificio Istituto of Christian Architecture, in Rome. Giovanni’s master's degree was about History, protection and conservation of pieces of art and he graduated at the Faculty of Cultural Heritage at the Bologna University, in Ravenna. He has always been engaged in the research and dissemination of the artistic heritage, with a special focus on the Christian iconographic tradition. He has played the pivotal role of curator in many different exhibitions and conferences. Giovanni has also written several articles and essays, and he currently teaches at the Higher Institutes of Religious Sciences in Rimini and Florence. He holds the positions of director of the Diocesan Museum and the Card. Cicognani of the Diocese of Faenza-Modigliana and Director of the Cardinal Giacomo Lercaro Museum of Art in Bologna. In addition, he is a publicist journalist. For the following five-year period 2020-2025, he has been holding the position of President AMEI, Association of Italian Ecclesiastical Museums.
