In the context of the 2024 Venice Art Biennale, Banca Ifis launches Ifis art, the project desired and conceived by the President, Ernesto Fürstenberg Fassio, which brings together all the initiatives carried out by the Bank for the valorization of art, culture, contemporary creativity and their values: from the art collection to the International Sculpture Park, from the project to recover Banksy's work and restore the Palazzo San Pantalon which hosts it, from the Economy of Beauty to the support of artistic and cultural events, from education programs to editorial products. A complex and unprecedented project that puts digital at the center, to make art accessible also through innovative and alternative methods, the development of public-private partnerships, to support territories and communities, and support for young people to promote development and social inclusion through art, in addition to the valorization of biodiversity, for a harmonious dialogue between man and nature.
The corporate art collection of the Banca Ifis International Sculpture Park:
Ifis art is divided into a series of initiatives, starting from the important art collection that the Bank has acquired over time, consisting of over 100 works by 50 artists, ranging from classical to contemporary art. Some of the most important works in the collection have found their natural home in the International Sculpture Park of Banca Ifis, a project curated by Giulia Abate and Cesare Biasini Selvaggi, within the 22 hectares of garden of Villa Fürstenberg, in Mestre. To date, the Park hosts thirteen plastic works by eleven Italian and international masters of contemporary sculpture: Fernando Botero, Annie Morris, Park Eun Sun, Igor Mitoraj, Manolo Valdés, Pablo Atchugarry, Pietro Consagra, Roberto Barni, Julio Larraz, Philip Colbert and Giuseppe Penone. To these, we add the widespread installation by Nico Vascellari, entitled “Horse Power”, which enhances the peculiarities of the relationship between man and nature immersed in the botanical-naturalistic ecosystem of the villa's garden. The Park's mission includes, through even temporary projects (exhibitions, performances, workshops, study days), the “cultivation” of biodiversity (environmental, social, economic, etc.), inclusion, related values and rights, and of synergistic networks between businesses and the third sector of contemporary creativity, a prerequisite for sustainable social and economic development in the new era of the “economy of knowledge and social justice”.
Starting from next April 28, 2024, the park will be open to the public who will be able to visit it for free every Sunday (excluding holidays), upon reservation via the dedicated “Ifis art” app. Furthermore, the Park will host a rich program of initiatives, inaugurating the Public Program of the Italian Pavilion at the 2024 Venice Art Biennale with the new sound performance by Massimo Bartolini, “Ballad for tentrees”, which will be followed by interventions by artists such as Nico Vascellari ( to whom Banca Ifis has also dedicated an anthological monograph of the production of performances and sculptures, to be released in June by Skira), workshops with Park artists (Philip Colbert) and study days on topics related to art and the ecosystem economic-cultural (Made in Italy, restoration in Italy between ancient and contemporary, the new patronage of companies for the care and well-being of the interior, communities and territories of reference).
To accompany the exhibition project, Banca Ifis produced the volume “The Nature of Contemporary Sculpture. The Banca Ifis International Sculpture Park: stories, ideas, visions”. Inside the book, published by Skira, the centuries-old history of Villa Fürstenberg and its works is told. Through essays and a rich iconographic apparatus, the volume traces the role and importance of sculpture in contemporary artistic practices, its relationship with nature and territory, with the built environment and with the public sphere.
The restoration of Banksy's work “The Migrant Child” and the valorisation of Palazzo San Pantalon:
Among the most significant projects of Ifis art – an expression of the Bank's desire to activate virtuous partnerships between public and private – is the recovery and restoration operation of Banksy's work,The Migrant Child, one of only two works by the street artist recognized in Italy. The commitment of Banca Ifis, which accepted the appeal of the Ministry of Culture, has the aim of preserving not only the artistic but also the social value of the work, recognized as a symbol of peace and hope.
The Bank purchased Palazzo San Pantalon, in Venice, where the work appeared in 2019. Thanks to this operation, the institute will restore the entire building and restore its original beauty, transforming it into an exhibition space dedicated above all to the most young people, Italian and international, and open to the Venetian community. On the occasion of the 2024 Venice Art Biennale, to shine a light on the theme of safeguarding and protecting the rights of children and human beings, Banca Ifis animated and made interactive the work of the famous English street artist thanks to the digital installation “Light over Banksy – Human Rights First”, created by Anderson Tegon and the creative team of Pepper's Ghost. The projection will be visible every evening, from 9.30 pm to 11.30 pm, starting from Wednesday 17 April until Sunday 21 April on the facade of Palazzo San Pantalon in Campo Santa Margherita.
Ifis art, digital as an accelerator for the enjoyment of art:
Starting from the Banca Ifis International Sculpture Park, the Ifis art project aims to “democratize” art, making it increasingly accessible and usable even to a public less accustomed to the subject. To do this, Ifis art focuses on the strength of new digital channels. The Bank has, in fact, developed an innovative app – usable both from the web and from mobile – in which the story of the individual works is accompanied by unpublished video content, storytelling and interviews with the artists. The app is available from today on the App Store and PlayStore or at.
Economics of Beauty and art studies:
Ifis art also offers itself as a platform to stimulate reflections and insights on the value, not only economic, but also social, that art and culture bring to communities, businesses and territories. With this in mind, the Bank has decided to dedicate the 2024 edition of its observatory “Economy of Beauty” to the value of corporate collection and to the social and productive benefits generated by work environments in which art is present. Since its inception in 2021 as part of the projects of the Social Impact Lab Kaleidos, “Economia della Bellezza” tells how this particular sector represents unique peculiarities in generating wealth by exploiting a particular combination of know-how, tradition and Made in Italy. It is no coincidence that the 2023 edition of the observatory highlighted how there is more and more beauty in Italy and that this contributes to the creation of as much as 26.1% of the national GDP.
Support for artistic and cultural events:
Still within the scope of public-private partnerships, Banca Ifis collaborated with the institutions by exhibiting, on the occasion of the exhibition held in Lucca, “Antonio Canova and neoclassicism in Lucca”, 12 busts of Antonio Canova (1757-1822) which were missing and which the Bank purchased and restored to its former glory after careful restoration work. With the aim of supporting this sector, the Bank has chosen to join prestigious international art and culture events, including the 2023 edition of “Roma Arte in Nuvola”, the “Banksy Painting Walls” exhibition, at the museum M9 of Mestre, in addition to the sponsorship of the Italian Pavilion at the 2024 Venice Art Biennale.
Support for young people and art as a tool for social inclusion:
In line with the mission of the Social Impact Lab Kaleidos, which includes the Ifis art project, Banca Ifis has used art as a tool for social inclusion, particularly towards young people. For this reason, it has promoted initiatives such as “Your Future You”, the social economy educational project of 21 Gallery (Treviso), through the methodology of life & executive coaching, a course aimed at high school and high school students to acquire awareness of their predominant potential , imagine one's own possible futures where these potentials can be expressed to the maximum, starting from the potential common to all, creativity. The final aim is to accompany students, at the end of high school, on the most suitable path of study and work, to develop skills but, at the same time, to become balanced and motivated adults.
The impact measurement of the Ifis art project:
Banca Ifis will apply its social impact measurement model developed in collaboration with the Polytechnic of Milan to the International Sculpture Park to quantify in monetary terms the value generated by the Bank's initiatives on the community. This model has already been applied to other Bank initiatives and has shown that every euro invested in social projects generates an average of 3.9 euros of value for communities and territories.
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