As part of the Lake Como Creativity Week 2026, Fondazione Antonio Ratti presents a selection of works from its collection, bringing contemporary art into dialogue with its textile collection.

Joan Jonas was a guest in Como as part of the CSAV – Artists’ Research Laboratory when she created the performance The Hand Reverts its Own Movements, a layered work weaving together video, sculpture, music and rituals performed by the artist, inspired by Aby Warburg. On display are the silk satin drawing Untitled, the result of actions charged with ritual and spiritual meaning, and Shadows (2007): a roughly five-minute looped video inspired by Japanese theatre and shadow play, made with residency participants — a choreography of moving figures interacting with domestic objects.

In dialogue with Jonas’s works, a composition of painted bark panels from Congo and a selection of headwear from around the world offer, through an anthropological lens, a glimpse into a variety of cultures, customs and traditions tied to ritual and religious practices.

The selection is completed by volumes from the Seth Siegelaub archive, including Bibliographica Textilia Historiae (1997) — part of a collection of over 9,000 volumes, among the most comprehensive in the world for textile literature, and a key research resource.