If the future was an object in your hand

Francesca Grilli

February 2 – May 3, 2023

The exhibition If the future was an object in your hand stems from the dialogue with the IFT on the theme of the hand: a tool for relating to others and the world, with functions that mark the difference between the human and animal species, the hand has assumed great symbolic value throughout history, to the point of being considered the custodian of signs that indicate possible plots in the lives of individuals.

Through her performances, videos and, in general, her works, Francesca Grilli guides the audience in observing signs that build a trajectory of dialogue towards one’s own intimacy. In her artistic research, time is a key element: it identifies a rhythm, records a duration, identifies the capacity for resistance, symbolizes experience. The protagonist of time is the body, a body that accompanies our life and speaks to us through a sophisticated perceptual system. The body is also the instrument of contact that allows us to feel the other, to participate in the experience of the other by recognizing ourselves in a common feeling.

Telling the story of the hand is a way to tell our way of carrying out relationships. The hand takes, the hand gives; the hand offers, the hand refuses; the hand opens and closes; it grips and releases; it defends, welcomes, strikes, caresses; it speaks and is silent. It therefore becomes the symbol of social bonds, of the thousand forms in which interpersonal and intergenerational bonds are expressed.