Valentino Garavani. Venus. Joana Vasconcelos

This book is published in conjunction with VENUS, Joana Vasconcelos's exhibition at PM23 (18 January - 31 May, 2026) and in selected public sites across Rome, developed in dialogue with the work and legacy of Valentino Garavani and produced by the Fondazione Valentino Garavani e Giancarlo Giammetti. Conceived as a philanthropic foundation dedicated to education, culture, and social engagement, the Fondazione frames the project not only as an exhibition but as a platform in which art, fashion, and civic participation converge.
VENUS approaches Valentino's work as a material and conceptual archive. Its forms, colors, and techniques are translated into large-scale sculptures and spatial environments that extend fashion into the domain of installation and public space. At the center of the project stands Valkyrie Venus, a monumental figure assembled from thousands of crocheted and textile modules produced through a wide participatory network involving schools, hospitals, refugee shelters, women's shelters and prisons.
The book documents both this collective process and the finished work, presenting craft as a social practice grounded in care, repetition, and shared labor.