EXHIBITION: THE ROSE THAT GREW FROM CONCRETE AT MUSEO SANT'ORSOLA, FLORENCE

The exhibitionThe Rose that Grew from Concrete, which runs from September 5 to January 4, represents the latest stage in Museo Sant'Orsola's cultural reactivation, and it stands as an ideal bridge between the former convent’s past and its future vocation as a museum and contemporary art centre.

The future museum will officially open its doors in 2026, following the completion of restructuring and renovation of the entire Sant’Orsola complex, Florence’s San Lorenzo district. The series of exhibitions on view during the venue’s construction phase are one-of-a-kind, and they denote the approach of this novel Florentine cultural centre, at the crossroads of a historical, archaeological and fine arts museum, and a contemporary arts centre with its own collection of 21st-century works.

Flora Moscovici, working under the convent loggia, May 2025, ph. Claudio Ripalti

Since 2023, the museum has been inviting contemporary artists to reflect on the monumental space and its history through site-specific works. With each successive exhibition, visitors have the chance to participate in the rediscovery and rebirth of a site that has been inaccessible for too long.

Once a place of spirituality and work, now covered in cement, the former monastery of Sant’Orsola bears the signs of a long history of transformations: construction, abandonment, reconversion. Today, the complex, located in the heart of Florence’s historical centre, is preparing to reopen to the city through an itinerary that combines memory, art and contemporary creativity.

Tobacco Courtyard, where Juliette Minchin’s ephemeral wax works were visible during the previous exhibition Rivelazioni, September 2024, ph. Claudio Ripalti

The Rose that Grew from Concrete represents the third and final temporary exhibition conceived and hosted by Museo Sant’Orsola before the official opening of the museum in 2026. Set up in the heart of the complex’s restoration site after almost fifty years of neglect, the exhibition tells a story of rediscovery, repair and resilience. Its title is inspired by a famous poem by Tupac Amaru Shakur (1971-1996), an African-American artist and voice-symbol of memory, resistance and identity. Starting from this poetic suggestion, the exhibition brings together thirteen Italian and international artists, invited to create site-specific works in dialogue with the architecture and multi-faceted history of the place.

Many of the techniques used are rooted in traditional artisanal practices – such as embroidery, scagliola or gold leaf – reinterpreted in a contemporary key. Some of the works on show are the result of collaboration between the artists and historic workshops in the area, such as the Bianco Bianchi workshop, preserver of the ancient art of scagliola.

Marion Flament, detail of Les âmes de Sant’Orsola (The souls of Sant’Orsola) and Le retable évaporé (The Vanished Altarpiece), blown glass, soot paint on glass, steel, 2025, ph. Claudio Ripalti

Curated by Morgane Lucquet Laforgue, this exhibition features artists Chiara Bettazzi, Mireille Blanc, Bianca Bondi, David Ctiborsky, Marion Flament, Federico Gori, Beate Höing, Flora Moscovici, Chris Oh, Elise Peroi, Clara Rivault, and Calliope Arts Foundation awardees Shubha Taparia and Cécile Davidovici.

With special thanks to donors Calliope Arts co-founders Margie MacKinnon and Wayne McArdle for their support of the exhibition, and to Christian Levett, founder of the Levett Collection in Florence and FAMM in Mougins, for his support of the Sant’Orsola edition of The Curators’ Quaderno.

Source: The Rose that Grew from Concrete, press release

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