12 Dec 2025 – 18 Jan 2026
Rome, Italy
maxxi.art
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Mother is a multidisciplinary project combining theater, art, and music, inspired by Michelangelo’s unfinished Pietà. Conceived as the final work by American director and playwright Robert Wilson before his death in July 2025, the piece offers an immersive experience that moves beyond religious narrative to address the universal theme of maternal grief and mercy.
At its center is a historic plaster cast of the Pietà, commissioned in 1953 from conservator Cesare Gariboldi, staged within a precisely composed environment of light, sound, and space. The sculpture is enveloped by a score of string music and Arvo Pärt’s Stabat Mater, alongside Wilson’s own drawings made in response to the work. Installed within a fully darkened gallery, the project reconstructs the atmosphere of the former Spanish Hospital at Milan’s Castello Sforzesco, framing an experience that sits between performance, installation, and sound, and foregrounds sustained attention and emotional presence.
designboom has received this project from our event submissions feature, see more here.