The title of the pavilion we are in is “With my eyes”. We all need to be looked at and to dare to look at ourselves. In this, Jesus is the perennial Master: he looks at everyone with the intensity of a love that does not judge, but rather knows how to be close and encourage. And I would say that art educates us to this type of gaze, not possessive, not reifying, but not indifferent, superficial either; It educates us to a contemplative gaze. Artists are in the world, but they are called to go beyond.
For example, today more than ever it is urgent that they know how to clearly distinguish art from the market. Of course, the market promotes and canonizes, but there is always the risk that it “vampires” creativity, steals innocence and, finally, coldly instructs on what to do.
Today we have all chosen to meet here, at the Giudecca women’s prison. It is true that no one has a monopoly on human pain. But there is a joy and suffering that come together in the feminine in a unique way and that we must listen to, because they have something important to teach us. I think of artists like Frida Khalo, Corita Kent or Louise Bourgeois and many others. I sincerely hope that contemporary art can open our eyes, helping us to properly value the contribution of women as co-protagonists of the human adventure.