Spirito Creatore
Inauguration Event – Saturday, October 28
Spirito Creatore is an exhibition of contemporary sacred art by Susan Kanaga, an American Protestant woman (Orleans, Cape Cod), and Filippo Rossi, an Italian Catholic man (Florence, Italy), inaugurated at the Museo del Duomo (Florence Cathedral Museum) in Florence, Italy in May 2017, and continuing in Orleans, MA in October/November 2017.
(Watch a short video of the creation of the exhibit:)
This monumental installation is inspired by the New Testament account of Pentecost. The title Spirito Creatore refers to God’s creating of the world, and breathing life into human beings, the Spirit who hovered over the primordial waters and covered the Virgin Mary with his shadow, the Spirit poured out by the resurrected Savior who redeemed humanity by his cross. The same Spirit works in the artists, enabling them to communicate through beauty.
United by their faith in Christ, both artists are interested in the power of color and materials beyond literal representation — an abstraction rich in iconic suggestion, able to accompany deep listening to God’s Word.
Susan Kanaga and Filippo Rossi have done other collaborative exhibitions: Luce del mondo (Barga and Orleans, 2014); Frammenti (Barga and Orleans, 2015) Through Light (Bergamo, Galleria Viarena, 2016; Barga and Orleans, 2017).
The opening of the Spirito Creatore exhibit was the inaugural event of the International Symposium, The Arts and Ecumenism: What Theology Risks in Artistic Creation, celebrating the 500th Anniversary of the Reformation with Symposia in Paris, Strasbourg, Florence, Yale, and concluding at the Community of Jesus, Orleans, MA, October 27-29.