The newest exhibit at Fondazione Prada is an in-depth exploration of the human brain in all its intricacies. Entitled “Human Brains: It Begins with an Idea,” the exhibit, curated by Udo Kittelmann in collaboration with Taryn Simon, is on display as part of the 59th international Venice Art Biennale 2022.

Open now through November 27, 2022, the exhibit—the result of a rigorous investigative process that began in 2018—invites attendees to immerse themselves in a variety of interdisciplinary fields including neurobiology, philosophy, psychology, neurochemistry, linguistics, artificial intelligence, and robotics, all explored within the complexity of the human brain.

“We are increasingly interested in relevant subjects that impact the lives of everyone, even when those topics are difficult to  understand,” said Miuccia Prada, President of Fondazione Prada. “With the support of the ‘Human Brains’ scientific board, we  asked ourselves how to give voice to scientists and researchers, how to get them in contact with a wider audience, how to combine scientific rigor with an approach understandable to all.”

Covering three floors and including displays in the form of projections, historical objects, drawings, paintings, prints, and  books, the exhibition seeks to understand the human brain and its centrality to human history. As such, the Mesopotamian and ancient Egyptian ages, Italian Renaissance, and the Japanese Edo periods are all explored with relevance. 

The program, developed by Fondazione Prada, is in collaboration with a scientific board chaired by Giancarlo Comi, neurologist, and composed of Jubin Abutalebi, cognitive neurologist; Massimo Cacciari, philosopher; Viviana Kasam, scientific journalist;  Letizia Leocani, neurologist and neurophysiologist; Andrea Moro, neurolinguist; and Daniela Perani, cognitive neurologist. 

“This project aims to shed light on science, on its extreme complexity, on how the evolution of  knowledge requires a continuous verification process and how each new acquisition is the premise for the next in a never-ending development,” said Comi. “This project also intends to recognize the immense contribution of the neuroscientific community with special attention given to young researchers who, with their creativity, provide a fundamental contribution to the advances of neurosciences.”  

A collaborative effort, 32 international fiction authors unveiled literary text in response to the scientific findings, and 36 field specialists from five continents are broadcast in the exhibition discussing neuroscientific experiments and philosophical and ethical dimensions, their clips taken from 140 hours of interviews. Conceived in four phases, this exhibit marks the third installment of the project, the fourth being a scientific forum and critical dialogue, “Preserving the Brain,” scheduled for September and October 2022 in Milan.

“Human Brains: It Begins with an Idea” 

Fondazione Prada, Venezia 

Ca’ Corner della Regina  

Santa Croce 2215, Venice 

fondazioneprada.org