The artistic director of the Female Collections of Dior, Maria Grazia Chiuri, presented today January 31 at the Vatican the exhibition En routewhich addresses the theme of the trip thanks to its promotion in the restoration and cataloging of the collection from the Legacy of the Italian diplomat and scholar Cesare Poma (1862-1932).
The exhibition includes about 1,200 newspapers from the most remote and printed places in the most remote languages of the five continents.
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It can be seen in different exhibition spaces of the Vatican such as the Barberini Room and the adjacent rooms of the Vatican Apostolic Library from February 15 to December 20, 2025.
The conductive axis is the life and work of Poma, the important Italian philosopher and writer “starting from that collection of books, and expanding to many others preserved in the Vatican Library,” said Archbishop Angelo Vincenzo Zani, Archivist and Library of the Holy See.
Each year, thousands of researchers can scrutinize the historical documents guarded in the apostolic library of the Vatican that cover vast fields of knowledge such as philosophy, theology, law, art, natural sciences, music and astronomy.
It is precisely in this context of study where it is born En routea project whose objective is to bring to light a vast collection of newspapers from the most remote places in the world, with valuable snapshots of travel through the journalistic, cultural and diplomatic prism.
Mons. Zani said that the exhibition is also a symbol of the Holy Year: “Hope is not to stay still, but to walk. Faith is a continuous search a trip that invites you to go further. ”
In addition to the Dior Fashion House, which has allowed the cataloging and restoration of the Poma Collection, this exhibition project has been possible thanks to the collaboration of other sponsors such as Intessa Sanpaolo, Sparkle and the Anawim Foundation.
Grazia Chiuri is the protagonist of a part of the exhibition: a digital installation that tells the stories of six travelers from the late nineteenth century focused on the relationship between fashion and trip concepts.
“It is a great privilege to have been invited to expose in the Vatican Library, one of the oldest collections of books, maps and manuscripts,” explained the creative director of the fashion collections for Dior women.
“Knowledge and creativity are totally intertwined for me; I feel honored and flattered that I have been able to imagine a project in such a significant place for our global education and culture, ”he added.
The exhibition concludes in the great Sistine Hall of the Vatican with the map (1984) of Alighiero Boetti, an important loan that comes from the Italy galleries of Intessa Sanpaolo de Naples.
The Vatican Apostolic Library forges with this exhibition new bridges of dialogue with other personalities of the art world: in addition to an illustrator, there is a musician and a creative fashion.
“Our centenary institution not only shows that this collision of worlds, languages and thoughts so different, but reacts with surprising vitality and elasticity,” said P.Giacomo Cardinali, conservative and commissioner of the exhibition.
In the words of Mons. Zani, the Vatican Apostolic Library renews with this exhibition its commitment to “make its historical cultural heritage accessible” and to put “in dialogue with the present, celebrating the trip as a universal experience and an opportunity for the encounter between the encounter cultures, times and different sensibilities ”.
The press conference in the Vatican also had the participation of Italian artist Lorenzo Jovanotti Cherubini; De Karishma Swali, creative director of the Chanakya Craft School and the Icelandic illustrator Kristjana S. Williams.
“Historical documents offer a fascinating vision of how human beings have lived and seen the world throughout many generations, and it is a privilege to incorporate the stories of these travelers and pioneers to my works of art,” he said for their part The artist Williams about her experience in the Vatican Apostolic Library.
Victoria Cardiel
Victoria Cardiel is a journalist specialized in social and religious information issues. Since 2013, he has covered all the news of the Vatican for various media, such as the Spanish news agency Europa Press, or the weekly of the Archdiocese of Madrid, Alfa and Omega.