DIEGO CIBELLI. FOR THOSE WHO BELIEVE
The Fondazione Luigi Rovati presents the new Christmas installation Per chi crede by Neapolitan artist Diego Cibelli.
Starting 7 December, the atrium of the Fondazione Luigi Rovati comes to life with Per chi crede, the new installation created by Diego Cibelli to mark the Christmas season. Drawing inspiration from the tradition of the Neapolitan Nativity scene—an iconographic heritage that, over time, has evolved from a religious depiction into a social portrait of the community, animated by characters inhabiting small squares, streets and alleyways—the artist reinterprets this legacy through a contemporary lens.
The installation takes shape as a landscape of relationships: small porcelain spheres become sculptural forms that allude to encounters and fragments of a gathered humanity. Together, they evoke the intimacy and closeness that characterise this time of year and invite visitors to rediscover shared space as a place to inhabit, to share and to experience.
Cibelli describes his vision as follows: “The desire for community is a force that unites: it stems from a sense of lack, from recognising how difficult it has become today to find deep and meaningful relationships. Our thoughts turn to the past, to communities such as the Etruscans, where social bonds were a fundamental part of collective life; and at the same time they project us into the future, where such relationships can be reimagined starting from a powerful shared longing.”
The installation therefore invites us to reflect on how we build reciprocal and generative bonds capable of restoring meaning to living together—especially at this time of year, traditionally associated with closeness, listening and belonging.
To mark the occasion, the artist has created a limited and numbered series of 100 porcelain spheres, available exclusively at the Museum Bookshop.
Diego Cibelli
Diego Cibelli was born in Naples in 1987. He studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Naples and later moved to Berlin, where he graduated from the Weissensee Kunsthochschule. He returned to his hometown and obtained a degree in Product Design from the Vanvitelli University. His artistic research has always explored humanistic geography, interpreted as the study of territories, their history, and the sense of belonging that human beings develop, generating new living spaces. Among his most important solo exhibitions are L’Arte del Danzare Assieme and Gates at the Royal Factory and the Museo e Real Bosco di Capodimonte (Naples). Diego Cibelli won the 2024 edition of the Prix Carta Bianca at the Madre Museum (Naples). His work is included in the collections of international museums such as the MAD Museum of Art and Design in New York, the Museo e Real Bosco di Capodimonte (Naples), the Seattle Art Museum, and the National Gallery of Victoria (Melbourne).
INFO
DIEGO CIBELLI. PER CHI CREDE
7 December 2025 – 11 January 2026
Atrium of the Fondazione Luigi Rovati
Corso Venezia 52, Milan
Free admission
Special thanks to Tearose for the installation setup.