Art and beauty as a contribution to care, health and wellbeing: starting from this conviction, the Fondazione Allegra Agnelli per la Ricerca sul Cancro celebrates its first forty years with an installation outside the Istituto Nazionale Oncologico Candiolo, in the Turin area.
It is an Igloo by Mario Merz featuring the Fibonacci sequence, a work created in 1998. Its installation, in collaboration with the Fondazione Merz, was inaugurated today and represents a unique case worldwide of contemporary art installed on a permanent basis in an oncological hospital.
"Art in a place of care is not an ornament. It is a way of recognising that before us lies an entire life, not a disease," emphasises the Foundation's president, Allegra Agnelli, while Beatrice Merz, president of the Fondazione Merz, explains that "the Igloo and the Fibonacci sequence tell of the vital energy of nature that constantly renews itself." The project is realised with the support of Gruppo Building and in collaboration with Intesa Sanpaolo and the Gallerie d'Italia, and will also be documented in a catalogue published by Allemandi, which will be presented at Artissima 2026.
"We have always believed it important to integrate contemporary art into our architecture, convinced that beauty and visual harmony are essential elements for regenerating spaces and improving the quality of life of those who inhabit them," states Piero Boffa, president of Gruppo Building. "Joining this project was a natural choice: bringing Mario Merz's work to Candiolo means recognising beauty as playing an active role in the care journey, offering vitality and a welcoming environment to those going through a difficult moment."
"Over these years," concludes Antonio Carloni, deputy director of the Gallerie d'Italia, "the collaboration with the Fondazione Allegra Agnelli has generated a true cultural partnership, founded on the conviction that beauty and care can walk side by side. Through various shared projects we have helped to bring moments of comfort even to places of particular vulnerability."
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