By Eugenio Murrali
“The courageous artistic vision of Vivian Suter overturns and transforms our dominant, sleepwalking categories,” said Cardinal José Tolentino de Mendonça, Prefect of the Dicastery for Culture and Education, as he opened Suter’s exhibition at the Botanical Garden of Rome.
“Her work,” he continued, “reminds us that our bond with nature is inseparable – it is the foundation of our being in the world. A bond that cannot be broken without betraying ourselves.”
Two venues
The defining feature of Suter’s work is her collaboration with nature, which becomes a co-author in the creative process. This was evident in the evening’s presentations – introduced by Antonella Polimeni, Rector of Sapienza University of Rome – and in the conversation between curator Cristiana Perrella and the artist herself, as well as in the works displayed in both the Monumental Greenhouse and a new exhibition space in Via della Conciliazione, 5.
Nature as co-creator
The Botanical Garden of Rome, part of Sapienza University’s museum network, is, as the Rector noted, a tangible example of osmosis, biodiversity, and the possible coexistence of differences. This oasis in the heart of the city provides an ideal setting, in dialogue with the Conciliazione 5 gallery, to host part of Suter’s exhibition.
In conversation with Perrella, Suter described how she began painting with nature rather than merely about it. She works in a studio on a former coffee plantation at the edge of a Guatemalan rainforest. One day, a violent hurricane struck the region, covering some of her canvases with mud. When the mud dried, Suter realised the traces it left were not damage — they were part of the work.
Vivian Suter with some of her work (© Francesco Gili, courtesy Dicastero per la Cultura e l’Educazione e l’artista)
Leaving room for the elements
That moment transformed her art. As Perrella explained, Suter stopped trying to control her paintings, which she had previously created indoors. From then on, she allowed the air, rain, soil, humidity, pawprints of her dogs, marks of plants and animals, and even sounds to interact with the canvases, layering over her bold brushstrokes, vivid colours, and abstract forms.
“Through her work,” said Perrella, “and through the way she has chosen to live, Vivian reminds us that we are part of the environment.”
A world of interconnection
Displayed in an immersive installation that evokes the lush vibrancy of the tropical landscape where they are created, Suter’s works affirm that humanity is part of a wider, interconnected world. They convey an ecological sensitivity, inviting us to “care for our common home,” as Pope Francis writes in Laudato si’, and to take seriously the “ecological debt” mentioned in the Jubilee Bull — recognising that “the deterioration of the environment and of society especially affects the most vulnerable.” This idea, first expressed in the encyclical, was later echoed by Pope Leo XIV in the apostolic exhortation Dilexi Te.
The installations at Conciliazione 5 will remain on view until 4 December, while those in the Monumental Greenhouse at the Botanical Garden will be open until 14 December 2025. The 2025 Conciliazione 5 programme will conclude in December with a final project by an international artist, rounding off a year-long reflection on the major challenges of our time through the language of art.
The exhibition in Via della Conciliazione, 5 (© Francesco Gili, courtesy Dicastero per la Cultura e l’Educazione e l’artista)
The Conciliazione 5 programme
Following Yan Pei-Ming, who explored prison life in dialogue with inmates from Rome’s Regina Coeli prison, and Adrian Paci, who focused on the transformative power of travel, Vivian Suter turns to the relationship between humanity and the natural world.
Curated by Cristiana Perrella, the 2025 Conciliazione 5 programme embraces the spirit of the Jubilee by tackling urgent social themes — imprisonment, migration, the environment, and poverty. Each featured artist creates a project that unfolds both in the gallery space on Via della Conciliazione — a 24-hour window gallery — and in a different location across the city, each one tied to the chosen theme. Together, they form a network of artistic encounters that extends beyond the Vatican’s borders, offering the public new ways of engaging with contemporary art and reflection.
