From August 30 to November 19, 2025, Palazzo Bollani in Venice hosts the exhibition The Idea of Sculpture. From the Hand to the Robot, the first Italian showcase of Cuban artist Helena Bacardi, who combines sculptural tradition with new technologies. The initiative is on occasion of the official calendar of the Venice Architecture Biennale Intelligens, Natural, Artificial, Collective.
For this important international event, Once Events proudly managed the press office and communication activities, overseeing the project’s dissemination at the national level, the production of editorial content and presentation materials, and the coordination of digital and social media communication related to the event.
A journey between Renaissance and future
Curated by Roberta Semeraro with the collaboration of Giovanna Cicutto, the exhibition explores the evolution of sculpture from the Renaissance to the contemporary era, juxtaposing manual craftsmanship with creativity supported by robots and artificial intelligence.
The common thread is memory, understood as natural intelligence handed down through works of art, which today finds new horizons in digital technologies.
From Michelangelo’s genius to robotic sculptures
The exhibition unfolds in three main sections:
Michelangelo: two drawings and a terracotta model from the Museo di Casa Buonarroti in Florence, offering a glimpse into the master’s creative process.
20th-century and contemporary models: 17 three-dimensional sketches by artists such as Botero, Vangi, Mitoraj, Pomodoro, and Lipchitz, on loan from the Museo dei Bozzetti in Pietrasanta.
Helena Bacardi: ten marble and bronze sculptures, some created with the support of a robot-sculptor. Among them stands out a wooden model of the iconic Bacardi bat, which will be transformed into a Murano glass installation as a tribute to Venice.
One of the most striking elements of the exhibition is the presence of a live-working robot, sculpting in real time before the public, embodying the dialogue between the human hand and the machine.
