© Giulia Santambrogio
Pop-up Exhibition
19–20 September, 26–27 September 2026 · 10.30-17.30 · Ex panetteria Artebianca, Via Berenice 2, Gentilino ♿
The Museo Hermann Hesse hosts a dedicated studio space to welcome local artists. Through the Hesse Artist in Residence program, creatives are invited to the Collina d’Oro to engage with Hermann Hesse’s life and work, developing contemporary artistic interpretations of his thought.
The third artist we are delighted to host is Giulia Santambrogio (*1996). Her practice emerges from a dialogue between literary and spiritual traditions and contemporary issues. In 2026, the year marking the 800th anniversary of Saint Francis of Assisi’s death, Giulia reflects on the figure of the saint, long a source of inspiration: at the beginning of the 20th century, Hermann Hesse dedicated a biography to him (1904), while in 1959 Riccardo Bacchelli reinterpreted his story in the novel Non ti chiamerò più padre. Even today, new literary works continue to revisit Saint Francis’s thought from a contemporary perspective.
The artist approaches the image of a feminine Saint Francis: a poetic and radical figure combining spirituality, connection with nature, and inner transformation. From her dialogue with Hesse’s thought, she creates a work that blends literary, mystical, and corporeal elements, exploring themes of female self-determination, spiritual presence, and the visibility of inner processes. Characterized by a ritual dimension, her work is presented publicly and invites reflection on transformation, silence, and resilience. In an open space, her installation radiates immediate evocative power, poetically intertwining Hesse’s world with the questions of our time.
Curated by Marcel Henry & Giacomo Agosti
Vernissage: Friday 18 September 2026, 18.00
Entrance fee: «Pay What You Want» principle.
BIO
Giulia Santambrogio (*1996) lives and works in Lugano. After graduating in Discipline della Valorizzazione dei Beni Culturali (2018) and Painting at the Brera Academy of Fine Arts (2021), including an Erasmus experience in Marseille, she developed a practice combining painting, textile art, and performance. She creates performative garments and textile works that come alive through the body and movement, exploring self-awareness, transformation, and care using inherited or recycled materials. She has exhibited in Italy and abroad, including Sofia, Milan, Szczecin, Marseille, and Miami. Solo exhibitions include Canonica di San Salvatore, Barzanò (2023) and Brugherio (2024). Since 2025, she exhibits in Lugano at MICROMACRO Atelier Viandanti, develops the participatory project Andata e ritorno (Brugherio-Lugano) with the collective performance Ricostruire, and takes part in the international textile exhibition DON’T BE ABSURD at Camp Gallery in Miami with the work Blade of Grass.
