Conference "Art, Architecture, and Museography of Shared Sacred Spaces"
As part of the public program of the exhibition “ Lieux Saints Partagés. Voyage entre les religions” (Shared Sacred Places. A Journey Across Religions), held at Villa Medici from 9 October 2025 to 19 January 2026, Eleonora D’Alessandro moderated the conference “Art, Architecture, and Museography of Shared Sacred Places. Historical Approach and Contemporary Enhancement”. The conference took place at MAXXI Museo nazionale delle arti del XXI secolo in Rome.
The discussion offered a historical overview spanning several centuries, culminating in a reflection on the role of the museum as a space where the sacred is reinterpreted and rearticulated in contemporary terms.
Shared sacred places tell stories of coexistence prior to conflict: ritual practices and common sacred spaces cut across the three major monotheistic religions—Judaism, Christianity, and Islam—particularly in the Mediterranean and the Near East. These intertwined histories provide valuable tools for understanding the present and for imagining new forms of coexistence.
The full program below︎
In the cover image: Ayşe Raziye Özalp, Nativity in the Desert (21st-century copy of a 16th-century miniature, detail). Private collection.