One Month After The Idea of Sculpture.
From the Hand to the Robot

Reflections by Helena Bacardí

One month has passed since the inauguration of The Idea of Sculpture. From the Hand to the Robot at Palazzo Bollani, part of the official program of the Venice Architecture Biennale and Biennale Cinema.

We asked Helena Bacardí to share her thoughts on the exhibition – the journey, the dialogue between past and present, and what it means to see her work in conversation with history and technology.

How do you feel about the exhibition and how it turned out?

Helena:
I’m absolutely thrilled with the exhibition! It is even more beautiful than I expected. Every part seems to come together and it leaves the viewer with more questions than answers – which I love.

Alongside your sculptures, works by other artists are also on display. Which piece is your favorite, and why?

Helena:

I think one of my favorite sculptures is “Orizzonte” (Horizon) by Igor Mitoraj. For me, it very much represents our debt to classical art and thought, which continues to inspire contemporary creation.

Do you see a dialogue between your pieces and those of other artists?

Helena:
The fact of exhibiting with all these great masters of sculpture and of modernism is such a privilege, and it definitely provokes a dialogue – at least in my mind it does.

Modernism is, after all, my source of inspiration, and I see its resonances in all the sculptures, including my own: figures abstracted into metaphors to better represent the conflict between classical and romantic ideas.

Closed, smooth spheres are fractured, torn apart, exposed like humanity after the splitting of the atom – an explosion of structures and paradigms that once held our societies together. And yet, there is always the desire for beauty, for harmony, for reconciliation of the fragmented parts, and the healing that beauty provides.

That, I believe, is why Michelangelo is present here as the spiritual father of Renaissance sculpture. The Renaissance is the root of the modern world and of modern art. I cannot think of better company in which to be included! I only hope that my work comes up to the standard set by this exhibition.

Reflections

The exhibition embodies a conversation between hand and machine, tradition and innovation, matter and meaning.

Helena’s words echo through the spaces of Palazzo Bollani: gestures that began in her hands, marks that travel through marble and bronze, emotions that remain alive in every piece.

Every sculpture tells a story. Every mark carries memory.