From 24 April to 14 June 2026, MAN hosts Growing capital, an exhibition by Monica Biancardi and the winning project of the PAC – Piano per l’Arte Contemporanea 2025, promoted by the Directorate-General for Contemporary Creativity of the Italian Ministry of Culture.
The exhibition, curated by Chiara Gatti, grew out of the acquisition of eleven black-and-white photographs documenting, between 2009 and 2023, the coming of age of Bedouin twins Sara and Sarah, whom the artist first encountered during one of her many trips to Palestine. Over the course of seventeen years, Biancardi followed the two young women with consistency, respect, and extraordinary sensitivity, building with them a relationship of quiet trust and unobtrusive presence. Shot on medium-format analogue cameras, the photographs render with poetic force and documentary rigour not only the physical transformation of the twins, but also the deeper shifts in identity, social roles, and the gradual narrowing of their freedoms and prospects. Each portrait holds the tension between permanence and change, bearing witness to the silent resilience of the two young women.
The exhibition expands through a series of accompanying works that broaden its scope: seven maps etched on plexiglas trace the progressive fragmentation of Palestinian territory from 1917 — historical Palestine — to the present day; a travel video retraces the journey from East Jerusalem to the village of Hataleen; and a selection of drawings made by children from the local community explores the theme of the sea — a place that is near yet unreachable, and therefore imagined.
The exhibition is accompanied by the talk Growing capital: Perspectives on a Changing Palestine, scheduled for Thursday 23 April. The event will bring Director Chiara Gatti into conversation with Monica Biancardi, exploring the genesis of the project and its central themes — time, transformation, and the right to freedom — offering audiences the opportunity to step inside the creative and human process that made it possible.
Growing capital is part of MAN’s mission to promote contemporary art as an instrument of testimony and awareness, contributing to a critical reading of the transformations unfolding across human and cultural geographies.
The project is supported by PAC2025 – Piano per l’Arte Contemporanea, promoted by the Directorate-General for Contemporary Creativity of the Italian Ministry of Culture.