From Wednesday 11 June to Sunday 21 September 2025, the Fondazione Merz in Turin will present the shortlist Art exhibition of the fifth edition of the Mario Merz Prize curated by Giulia Turconi.
The protagonists of the exhibition are Elena Bellantoni (Rome, Italy, 1975), Mohamed Bourouissa (Blida, Algeria, 1978), Anna Franceschini (Pavia, Italy, 1979), Voluspa Jarpa (Rancagua, Chile, 1971) and Agnes Questionmark (Rome, Italy, 1995).
The exhibition unfolds in a journey that spans the different works presented who stand out from each other in terms of their artistic research and choice of materials, yet share certain themes, such as a focus on the body and important current social issues. The works presented offer a total immersion for the visitor, who is invited to search for his own interpretation of contemporary society, which for each artist focuses on a specific aspect and different nuance.
The exploration begins with Elena Bellantoni’s video installation, an important and significant reflection on popular uprisings, particularly in four countries linked by the breadline, the ‘bread road’ where this takes on a social and cultural significance. In Agnes Questionmark’s installation, the artist puts her own body on the line, turning it into a political vehicle that challenges the power relations within our current society. Voluspa Jarpa welcomes the audience into a synaesthetic experience to discover the different elements that make up her work, in which sight and hearing evoke events and their reverberations between the past, present and future. Anna Franceschini returns to the image of the body represented in the form of a machine. Here too, movement is fundamental, linking back to its cinematic nature, with the aim of confirming that cinema and its illusion can also be found elsewhere. Finally, Mohamed Bourouissa confirms the focus on the body and social issues as the undisputed protagonists of the exhibition. In his video work, the artist explores the notion of control, the expropriation of the body and relationships of domination within the state. This reflection is then given concrete form through cast aluminium sculptures in which the traces and actions that the body undergoes are evoked, releasing long-held tension.
Through different forms and expressions, the exhibition becomes a hub for a renewed reflections and critiques on contemporary society, a place for discussion and open dialogue.
The Art shortlist for the Mario Merz Prize, announced in May 2024, was selected by Samuel Gross (Special Project Manager at the Musée d’Art et d’Histoire in Geneva), Claudia Gioia (independent curator) and Beatrice Merz (President of the Fondazione Merz).
The final jury together with the public vote will select the winner of this fifth edition.
Until September 21, 2025, the public will be able to participate actively in the selection of the winning artist by expressing its preference by clicking here. The public’s vote will be in addition to that of the final jury.
The winner will have the opportunity to create a personal exhibition project commissioned and produced by Fondazione Merz.
