International Sculpture Park, here is the «Economy of Beauty»- -

It is housed within the beyond 22 hectares of a garden of particular naturalistic value and biodiversity surrounding the sixteenth century Villa Fürstenberg to Morocco (Venice), whose architecture recalls the Palladian style. Among grassy expanses, flowering plants, pergolas and a particularly suggestive irregularly shaped pond, the Banca Ifis International Sculpture Park is populated by thirteen monumental plastic works by eleven masters of contemporary sculptureItalian and international, gathered under the curatorship of Giulia Abate and Cesare Biasini Selvaggi: from the colossal bronze face of «Chapped Theseus» made in 2011 by Igor Mitoraj to «The King»of “Andy Warhol’s godson” Philip Colbertwhich presents itself as a contemporary cartoon, from Fernando Botero to Park Eun Sun, Annie Morris, Manolo Valdés, Pablo Atchugarry, Pietro Consagra, Roberto Barni, Julio Larraz, Giuseppe Penone. To these, we add the widespread installation of Nico Vascellari «Horse Power»which enhances the peculiarities of the relationship between man and nature immersed in the botanical-naturalistic ecosystem of the garden of the historic residence.

A brand enhanced by art

An enchanted place that from April 28 it will be open to the public for free every Sunday. It is one of the proposals that go under the umbrella of «Ifis art»a systemic project, launched to coincide with the opening of the 60th Art Biennialstrongly desired and created by the president of Banca Ifis Ernesto Fürstenberg Fassio, which brings together all the initiatives carried out in the field of art and culture by the challenger bank. «Starting – explains the president – ​​fromimportant art collection that Ifis has acquired over time, we wanted to enhance our brand by adding something else in addition to the banking function. At the center of Ifis art is the valorization of art, culture, contemporary creativity and their values, with the aim of generating value for people and communities.” A new patronage which unites public and private in the support of art and in the ability to create a circularity linked toeconomy of beautycombining attention and positive impact on the territory.

The twelve heads of Canova

The collection in progress that Fürstenberg Fassio talks about is made up of over 100 works by 50 artists, ranging from classical to contemporary art. Again with a view to valorising Italian cultural heritage, Banca Ifis has recently acquired 12 plaster heads made by Canova, which were believed missing and which the institute recovered and restored. They are currently on display in the exhibition «Antonio Canova and neoclassicism in Lucca»then they will go to Asolo it’s at Milan at Galleries of Italy, and then return home, visible in the headquarters of the Bank of Morocco where they will be displayed free of charge. Similarly, he purchased and restored a «Madonna and Child between Saint Jerome, a saint, an angel and the client» Of John Augustine of Lodi. It is an oil painting on canvas dated 1506. From the biography of Giovanni Agostino da Lodi we know that the artist lived in Milan from 1510 where he was registered as “Maestro Augustino de Lode pictore”. It was precisely his relationship with Milan that led to the Brera ‘s picture gallery to ask Banca Ifis to lend the painting for the section dedicated to Giovanni Agostino da Lodi.

Palazzo San Pantalon, proof of the future

Among the most significant projects of Ifis art is the recovery and restoration operation of the famous work of Banksy, «The Migrant Child»after purchasing the San Pantalon Palaceto Venicewhere the work appeared in 2019. «We will open it – says Fürstenberg Fassio – on the occasion of the 2026 Art Biennial. It will be transformed into an exhibition space dedicated above all to street art and younger artists, Italian and international, and open to the Venetian community. We are working with the Minister Sangiuliano to the idea of ​​making the building available and usable during the next Art Biennale as part of the Italian PavilionTO”. In practice, if the dialogue initiated between Ifis and the Ministry of Culture for a virtuous synergy between public and private ends well, Palazzo San Pantalon could become a sort of separate branch of the Italian Pavilion, of which the bank is already a sponsor. Among other things, to confirm the good dialogue, the garden of Villa Fürstenberg will inaugurate the Public Program of the Italian Pavilion at this year’s Biennale hosting the new sound performance of Massimo Bartolini, «Ballad for ten trees».

Support for young people, communities, businesses and territories

And if support for artistic and cultural events is one of the missions, Ifis art is much more: from«Economy of Beauty», a platform to stimulate reflections and insights on the value, not only economic, but also social, that art and culture bring to communities, businesses and territories; to support young people and art as a tool for social inclusion (for example the social economy teaching project «Your Future You» Of 21 Gallery to Treviso); moving on to editorial products; and up to an innovative app, available in web and mobile versions, to broaden the enjoyment of art also through digital channels, which will contain unpublished video content, storytelling and interviews with the artists. The impact of the Ifis art project will also be evaluated: the bank will apply its own policy to the International Sculpture Park social impact measurement model developed in collaboration with the Politecnico di Milano to quantify in monetary terms the value generated by the institute’s initiatives on the community. This model has already been applied to other bank initiatives and has shown that every euro invested in social projects generates on average 3.9 euros of value for communities and territories.