Lucca Biennale Cartasia 2024: The Outdoor Exhibits

Last week’s blog showcased the indoor pieces from the paper art exhibit known as Lubica – the LUcca BIennale CArtasia.  Every other year, Lucca welcomes artists from around the world as they design, build, and display enchanting works of art crafted out of paper.   It is one art exhibit I never skip!

 The indoor works are generally smaller and often quite delicate with intricate cutwork, weavings, and collages.  The larger pieces designed for outdoor display are more sturdy, made from cardboard as opposed to more fragile types of paper.  They are still vulnerable to rain, wind, and human hands, especially the pieces that are completely out in the open in a piazza.  This is one time when outdoor art pieces are “hands off”.   At the conclusion of the exhibit many of these works will find long-term homes in protected places – underneath Lucca’s walls or in indoor spaces.

The bigger, sometimes massive, pieces adorn courtyards, piazzas, and archways throughout Lucca’s historic center.  This year one of the largest pieces, constructed in the workshop/laboratory, proved to be too big to fit through the doors and so could not be moved into an outdoor spot.   The sculpture, named Swallow’s Flight, remains inside the Mercato del Carmine building where it can be viewed as a special exhibit (ticket required).  If you are in Lucca this month don’t miss it – it soars to the roof of the building and is a wonderful, graceful work of art.  A guide explains (in Italian) the construction of the sculpture as well as interesting information about the history of Lubica (celebrating 20 years in 2024), past exhibits, and the Old Mercato building itself.

All of the outdoor pieces are wonderful, but my favorite is Leap of Desire. This large, colorful squirrel (top photo) reaching out for an acorn, sits in the courtyard of the Palazzo Guinigi.  He just makes me smile.

 Also found in the courtyard of the Palazzo Guinigi is this intriguing piece entitled Giano (Janus). A sort of time machine, the artist intends for it to explore human identity and encourage self-reflection. The artist is Chantal Maiorano of Italy.

The schedule for exhibits and workshops, as well as for tickets, is on the Lubica website: https://www.luccabiennalecartasia.com. If you’ve missed this years exhibit, Lubica will return in 2026.