Opera magazine
2025-10-10
Eldorato: The Art That Transforms a Symbol of Emergency into a Universal Message
The Opera del Duomo Museum will host an exhibition that blends contemporary art with profound reflections on humanity. From October 15 to December 1, 2025, its rooms will feature the video installation "Eldorato" by florentine artist Giovanni de Gara.
Curated by Antonio Natali, the work invites the public to meditate on the theme of hospitality through a powerful and immediate visual language.
A Golden Blanket: From Survival to Symbol
The "Eldorato" project began in 2018 and has made a long journey, visiting over seventy symbolic Italian locations, from Lampedusa to Assisi, eventually reaching the Judean Desert. The central element of De Gara's work is the golden isothermal blanket. This simple object, designed to save lives and widely known as the "migrant blanket," becomes a powerful symbol in the artist's hands. By covering the doors of churches, prisons, and universities, De Gara has transformed this "life-saving gold" into a universal message: an invitation to build a world with open doors, where every individual is welcomed without distinction of race, gender, or creed. The video installation presented at the Museum represents the final chapter of this journey.
A Contemplative Journey Between the Human and the Divine
While the project as a whole has a strong social dimension, the "Eldorato" video installation elevates the reflection to a more intimate and spiritual level. The work becomes a contemplative meditation on the relationship between humanity and the divine. Its starting point is a location of high symbolic significance: the Golden Gate of Jerusalem, which, according to Jewish tradition, was the place where the divine would manifest.
The images, filmed in Italy, Palestine, and Morocco, flow without the need for explanation, leading the viewer into an intimate dialogue with the infinite. Amidst desert landscapes, where "the light burns, the stone is silent, and time expands to the point of vanishing," a fragile golden blanket flutters in the wind. As art historian Antonio Natali explains, the work uses poetry to reflect on "abandonment, pain, and loneliness." Does the blanket represent a body, an absence, a divine figure, or a human relic? "Eldorato" offers no answers but instead confronts us with an echo of the sacred that recalls the gold of Byzantine icons.
The Dialogue Between Ancient and Contemporary
The decision to host "Eldorato" aligns perfectly with the mission of the Opera del Duomo Museum. The institution encourages "the dialogue between the ancient and the contemporary," just as De Gara's video installation builds a bridge between the sacred history preserved in the Museum and the urgent issues of our time, with the aim of "strengthening and sharing the value of a living humanity that strives to seek a sense of brotherhood and peace."
Visitor Information
Eldorato, Video Installation by Giovanni de Gara
Where: Opera del Duomo Museum, Piazza Duomo 9, Florence.
When: From October 15 to December 1, 2025.
Information & tickets: To check opening hours and purchase tickets to access the Museum, visit the official ticketing website: tickets.duomo.firenze.it.
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