Maurizio Cattelan Bidibidobidiboo 1996 photo Zeno Zotti copia (Palazzo Grassi, Venezia)
On Monday 23 March, Aterballetto comes to Fondazione Ferrero with Visions of the Body. Maurizio Cattelan: Seeing Contemporary Art through Auteur Dance.
On Monday 23 March 2026 at 8:30 pm, Fondazione Ferrero and the Municipality of Alba present Visions of the Body, an original dialogue between dance and contemporary art in which the body becomes a tool for amplifying the provocative and visionary meaning of Maurizio Cattelan’s work. This is the first in a series of events offered to the local community as stages in a shared journey towards 2027, the year in which Alba will be the Italian Capital of Contemporary Art.
Conceived by Centro Coreografico Nazionale / Aterballetto, Visions of the Body fosters dialogue between dance and visual art. The evening will feature Nicolas Ballario, journalist and cultural communicator, choreographer Lara Guidetti, and CCN/Aterballetto dancers Alessia Giacomelli and Kiran Gezels, in a work paying tribute to Maurizio Cattelan.
Maurizio Cattelan, Him, 2001, ph Tom Lindboe (Blenheim) A
At the heart of the artistic research are Cattelan’s works—irreverent and provocative pieces capable of questioning art and society through biting irony and powerful visual impact. His installations and sculptures become the starting point for an original artistic journey in which dance serves as a tool to amplify their meaning and translate their tensions and contradictions. The performance gives body and movement to Cattelan’s visions, transforming the irony, paradox, and unspoken elements of his works into physical gesture.
At the same time, Nicolas Ballario—journalist, cultural communicator, and curator of the dossier that led to Alba being named Italian Capital of Contemporary Art 2027—guides the audience in discovering the story and poetics of Maurizio Cattelan, tracing a narrative path that intertwines contemporary art and performance, vision and reflection, focusing on three works that form the backbone of the evening: HIM (2001), Rebel. The Only Prison Is Your Mind (2024), and Bidibidobidibù (1996). Each work is introduced by Ballario, who repeatedly reminds the audience that in Cattelan’s art, “nothing is ever as it seems.”
Maurizio Cattelan, moreover, will serve as the special curator of the افتتاحural exhibition of the Alba Capitale dell’Arte Contemporanea 2027 programme, dedicated to Pinot Gallizio, the painter-pharmacist from Alba who became one of the leading figures of twentieth-century art.
“With Visioni del corpo, staged at the auditorium of Fondazione Ferrero, the journey towards 2027 begins,” says Patrizia Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, president of the association Le Fabbriche del Vento per Alba Capitale Italiana dell’Arte Contemporanea 2027. “With this special event, we open a dialogue with the public, engaging them in a direct and vibrant experience of contemporary art through voice, dance, and the storytelling of artworks and artists’ research. Visioni del corpo is the first chapter of Alba Capitale’s Public Program, which we have imagined as a long conversation with the city and its citizens, in partnership with its public institutions and private institutions such as Fondazione Ferrero, long a key player in and supporter of Alba’s cultural life.”
“Events such as Visioni del corpo,” say Alberto Gatto, Mayor of Alba, and Caterina Pasini, Councillor for Culture, “clearly show the cultural path that Alba is building towards 2027. The dialogue between different artistic languages, such as dance and contemporary art, and the collaboration with high-quality institutions such as Fondazione Ferrero, represent valuable opportunities to engage new audiences and continue to expand the city’s cultural offering. Initiatives of this kind help create an atmosphere of attention, curiosity, and participation around contemporary art, preparing the ground for the programme of Alba Capitale dell’Arte Contemporanea 2027.”
Lara Guidetti graduated in 2006 as a dancer and choreographer from the Theatre-Dance Atelier of the Paolo Grassi School in Milan, studying with leading national and international masters. She continued her training in the fields of dance and performing arts, exploring various pedagogical methods and training practices through workshops and productions.
In 2008, she founded the Sanpapié company, where she serves as artistic director, choreographer, director, and performer, presenting works throughout Italy, Europe, China, and Saudi Arabia. In 2017, her performance LEI won the Premio Bonacina.
She collaborates with the JGM company in Lisbon and with La Scala in Milan as a dancer and acrobat, and creates choreography for opera productions. She has taught at the Paolo Grassi School, DanceHaus in Milan, and at the school of the Teatro Stabile di Torino.
Since 2022, she has been an associated artist of the MilanOltre Festival and a collaborator of CCN/Aterballetto as a choreographer and curator of site-specific and cultural welfare projects.
Maurizio Cattelan (Padua, 1960) is one of the most internationally renowned and controversial Italian contemporary artists. Famous for his provocative and ironic language, he has built a career by challenging the conventions of art through works that question themes such as death, power, religion, and identity. Among his most iconic creations are La Nona Ora (Pope John Paul II struck by a meteorite), Him (a kneeling Hitler in prayer), and Comedian (the banana taped to the wall). His works have been exhibited in some of the world’s most important museums and biennials. In 2011, he staged a major retrospective at the Guggenheim Museum in New York, and in 2021 he curated Breath Ghosts Blind at Pirelli HangarBicocca in Milan. In 2025, he curates the exhibition Endless Sunday at the Centre Pompidou-Metz. Suspended between provocation and poetry, his work continues to spark debate about art and its role in society.
Nicolas Ballario, born in 1984, works on contemporary art in relation to the media. After completing his studies at the Academy of Photography, he joined Oliviero Toscani’s factory La Sterpaia, later becoming its cultural manager. He has collaborated with major art institutions and numerous publications, and in 2016 he became the youngest-ever recipient of the Bassani Prize, one of the most prestigious awards for journalists distinguished in the cultural and environmental fields.
He is currently author and host of contemporary art programmes on Rai Radio 1 and collaborates with L’Espresso (where he writes a weekly column), Living del Corriere della Sera, il Post, and Il Giornale dell’Arte. In 2019, he hosted the photography programme Camera Oscura on LA7, while since 2020 he has hosted the programmes Io ti vedo, tu mi senti?, Italia Contemporanea, and The Square on Sky Arte.
He directs the newly founded exhibition production company Piuma and is founder and president of Cucù, a communication studio dedicated to culture. He also curates exhibitions and catalogues. The magazine Artribune included him among its Best of figures in the art world for two consecutive years: in 2019 for radio and in 2020 for television projects.
