Volcano Project

Can creativity help you feel better? Become a spark to ignite inner strength, nourish hope and break down the barriers of isolation?

From this reflection comes the ‘Volcano Project’, conceived by artist Beatrice Zagato in close collaboration with the University Hospital of Padua, which will host the activities in its spaces involving its staff. Patients and health workers are invited to embark on an unprecedented artistic journey, where creative expression becomes the engine for connecting and humanising patient care.

‘Volcano – explains Beatrice Zagato – represents the energy and vitality that each of us possesses, even in the most intense moments of difficulty. It is the strength that drives us to transform fragility into determination, and that is what this project aims at. Creativity, with its universal language of light and colour, helps us to bring out this potential‘.

The artist starts from the conviction that creativity and colour are a direct channel for accessing the inner world of one’s emotions without the filter of logic, so that where logic and thoughts would push us down to a depressive thought, the creative language can be used in the opposite sense: to light up our feelings. Moreover, creativity tends to expand and propagate, because it develops through connections. Then, question that Project Vulcan aims to answer is to understand whether creativity and beauty can enhance the capacity for recovery in patients, not as a drug, but rather as a stimulus to hope and strength.

Starting in February 2025, the Hospital of Padua will provide an entire area transformed into a creative space, where medium to long-stay patients can experiment with drawing, painting and other forms of artistic expression. A space of production, but also for dialogue and meeting, open to anyone who wants to participate: from the patients to their carers and health workers. The artworks produced will be progressively exhibited in the same space, creating a visual path that will document the evolution of the project. The aim is to stimulate a sense of community and hope, making time spent in hospital a meaningful time.

‘Project Vulcan does not just aim to bring art into the hospital, but rather seeks to generate new connections between people, exploring the transformative potential of creativity. Creativity works like a seed – Dr. Giuseppe Dal Ben AOUP Director General says – it expands, creating social links and stimulating new perspectives. What we hope is to test whether art and creativity can enrich the human experience even in the most complex moments, offering a powerful tool to reconnect with oneself and others.’

The project will culminate in the creation of a artwork by the artist, inspired by the patients’ drawings and messages, which will remain on permanent display in the hospital as a symbol of strength, hope and continuity.  A video narrative of the three-month duration of the project will be produced, documenting the most significant moments, giving voice to the patients and participants, thus carrying the message of Volcano beyond the confines of the hospital.

Volcano Project is in line with Beatrice Zagato’s approach that combines art, social research and law, using creativity as a tool to promote beauty and dialogue. Her works and projects focus on the power of light and colour as sources of energy and vitality.

Volcano project is made possible by the generous support of: Bottega SpA; GB Termae Hotels; Undici HP srl; Alì supermarkets; Xylem Service Italia s.r.l.; Cefim srl; Longwave s.p.a.; Guidolin Giuseppe – Eco. G. s.r.l.; Dr. Giovanni La Scala dental studio; private donation in memory of Vittore Pagan and with the technical sponsor of SFP Studio legale associato.

In collaboration with:
Studio ESSECI 
Ref. Roberta Barbaro
roberta@studioesseci.net
+39 049 663499
www.studioesseci.net