Image: Exhibition graphic for ‘Acqua che cura, Acqua che lavora’, Fondazione Musei Senesi, Siena
A new exhibition in Siena will bring together the results of two artist residencies developed under Fondazione Musei Senesi’s FMSchool programme. 'Acqua che cura, Acqua che lavora' is inaugurated on 7 August at 5:30 pm at Galleria Olmastroni and is open to the public from 8 August through 28 September 2026, with free admission. The project focuses on water as both a resource for work and a source of care and well-being, drawing on residencies carried out in Colle di Val d’Elsa and Chianciano Terme.
According to the exhibition material, the show is realised with the Comune di Siena – Servizio Musei e Collezioni Civiche. It is presented as the first time the outcomes of the two residencies will be gathered together in the provincial capital. One residency developed around the theme of water as a resource for labour, while the other centred on water as a source of healing and wellness. The exhibition thus shifts the project from two separate territorial contexts into a shared display in Siena.
The organisers describe Galleria Olmastroni as a “third time” of research, where works made in specific settings are relocated into a new space and placed in dialogue with one another. That move is framed as more than a simple regrouping: the exhibition is intended to open a common reflection on what emerged from work in the territories, including the relationship between memory and transformation, landscape and community, and practices of care and forms of belonging.
The thematic axis is explicitly shared. The material says the two strands, initially treated as distinct directions, reveal deeply intertwined dimensions through the exhibition’s new context. Transformation, regeneration, custody and relationship are named as recurring concerns. In this way, the project treats water not only as a subject but as a framework for thinking about labour, healing and the social meanings embedded in place-based artistic work.
The opening on 7 August will include a brindisi and a listening session curated by Golem. Public viewing begins on 8 August and continues until 28 September 2026. Fondazione Musei Senesi lists opening hours as Monday to Thursday, 3 pm to 7 pm, and Friday to Sunday, 11 am to 7 pm.
'Acqua che cura, Acqua che lavora' comes out of a programme tied to Fondazione Musei Senesi and its FMSchool initiative, and it foregrounds the transfer of artworks and ideas from the original residency sites into an exhibition setting. Rather than presenting the residencies as isolated episodes, the Siena show places their results in direct conversation at Galleria Olmastroni, where the project’s focus on water, territory and relational practice is set to remain on view through late September.
The two strands are shown with their own curators and casts. 'Acqua che cura', curated by Szonja Szurop, brings work by Indiara Di Benedetto, Carola Gatto and Luca Gori; 'Acqua che lavora', curated by Bianca Marsella, brings work by Francesca Baglieri, Filippo Contatore, Luca Pagin and Alicya Ricciuto. The wider programme, 'FMSchool – Acque, materiali e altri paesaggi sommersi', is a Fondazione Musei Senesi project curated by Chiara Vacirca and Gabriele Tosi and funded by the Programma Regionale Toscana FSE+ 2021–2027 with support from the European Union and Regione Toscana – Giovanisì, alongside the municipalities of Siena, Colle di Val d’Elsa, Radicondoli, Rapolano Terme, Chianciano Terme and Casole d’Elsa. Catalogues for both residencies, published by ViaIndustriae in 2026, are presented in the exhibition, and the listening session at the opening is curated by Golem – Francesco Lippi, Francesco Toninelli, Matteo Mannocci and Pietro Michi.
