Massimiliano Gioni and Beatrice Trussardi have launched the Beatrice Trussardi Foundation, a nomadic art initiative that debuted with an installation by Polish artist Paweł Althamer in a remote 17th-century hut in Switzerland's Engadin Valley. The project, featuring a sculpture of St. Francis and a series of happenings, marks a new chapter for the duo who previously spent two decades staging ephemeral public art projects in Milan. The foundation aims to operate without a permanent home, bringing site-specific contemporary art to unexpected global locations.
This initiative reflects a broader shift toward decentralized, nomadic institutional models that prioritize flexibility and public engagement over traditional museum structures. Gioni emphasizes that the project responds to a post-pandemic need for collective intelligence and community, using art to rethink global identities and borders. By placing international contemporary art in historically charged, rural settings like the vicinity of Friedrich Nietzsche’s house, the foundation challenges the urban-centric nature of the art world and explores new ways of experiencing spirituality and social connectivity.