Monia Ben Hamouda -Path of Totality
curated by Gioia Dal Molin
Museo Casa Rusca
Locarno Switzerland
September 21, 2025 - January 11, 2026
Path of Totality – Monia Ben Hamouda
The first exhibition is dedicated to Monia Ben Hamouda (1991), an Italo-Tunisian visual artist and one of the most important and compelling emerging figures on the nearby peninsula. Monia Ben Hamouda now exhibits regularly across Europe — in Vienna, Milan, Rome, Berlin, to name just a few — and has already received prestigious awards and recognitions for her work.
The Museo Casa Rusca has therefore decided to dedicate to her the first solo exhibition in a Swiss museum, with the aim of exploring new linguistic and cultural forms of Italian identity, as well as strengthening ties with the contemporary Italian art scene.
Raised in Milan and the daughter of a Tunisian father, Monia Ben Hamouda’s artistic research stems from an exploration of different cultural identities and their iconographic and ideological traditions, delving into the knowledge, traditions, and history of the Arab world. In doing so, she intertwines, for instance, the pictorial language — which she became familiar with through her father’s calligraphic practice — with questions about the experiences of migrants, the prohibition of representation in Islamic culture, or the properties of spices.
Over the past ten years, she has developed a distinctive artistic practice encompassing the creation of sculptures, installations, large-scale paintings, and drawings, using diverse materials ranging from iron to wood and, notably, spices. She is interested in spices not only for their color and aroma but also — and above all — for their meaning as healing, spiritual, or ritual elements.
Alongside some of her previous works, Monia Ben Hamouda is developing new sculptural and installation pieces specifically for her first solo exhibition in Switzerland.
The exhibition at Casa Rusca will also be accompanied by the publication Path of Totality – Monia Ben Hamouda, edited by Mousse Publishing, Milan, with graphic design by Martin Stoecklin and Melina Wilson (A-Language, Zurich).
In the central section dedicated to texts, three authors — Sira Pizà, Övül Ö. Durmusoglu, and Beya Othmani — together with curator Gioia Dal Molin, explore various aspects of Monia Ben Hamouda’s artistic practice and research, focusing in particular on the political dimensions of her work and its connections to current debates on cultural identities.
The visual section includes selected images of her works and installation views, as well as a collection of images from her archive and various sources, and photographs of her working process, which help situate her as an artist in today’s world.
The book will be presented on Saturday, December 6, at the Museo Casa Rusca, where the artist and the curator will lead a guided tour of the exhibition.
The publication is supported by the Italian Council — a project by the Directorate-General for Contemporary Creativity of the Italian Ministry of Culture — as one of the winners of its 13th edition.
Beyond the Exhibitions – The Museo Casa Rusca Program
The exhibitions at Museo Casa Rusca are accompanied by a program of events that delve deeper into specific themes and aspects of the works and artistic practices presented.
In addition, the exhibition will be complemented by the mediation program proposed by the Cultural Services for Museo Casa Rusca, designed to reach and engage a wide audience.
Various types of special events will be organized and led by qualified professionals. A special focus is dedicated to families and schools (primary, middle, and high schools). Educational and creative workshops inspired by the works on display will be developed, as well as a performance workshop. There will also be guided tours conducted personally by the artist or the curator, along with special guided visits.
The program targets both local and national audiences, catering to different levels of familiarity with contemporary art. It also aims to attract curious visitors who do not necessarily frequent art exhibitions in museums.
The detailed program will be developed over the coming months and shared through the museum’s website, newsletter, and social media accounts.
Biography – Gioia Dal Molin
Gioia Dal Molin (PhD) is an art historian, curator, and writer. She studied history, art history, and German literature at the University of Zurich and earned her doctorate in 2014 with a dissertation on the promotion of visual arts in Switzerland.
From 2015 to 2019, she directed the Cultural Foundation of the Canton of Thurgau. From 2020 to 2024, she served as curator and artistic director of the Istituto Svizzero, where she was responsible for the exhibition programs in Rome, Milan, and Palermo.
In this role, she curated numerous exhibitions — including the first solo shows in Italy of Klodin Erb, Mai-Thu Perret, Hannah Villiger, and Shahryar Nashat — as well as numerous screenings (with artists such as Noor Abed, Joyce Joumaa, and Valentin Noujaïm) and performances (with Tosh Basco, Madyson Bycroft, and Tiran Willemse).
As an author, she has contributed essays to exhibition catalogues and publications such as Mousse, Flash Art, and SPIKE, and has edited several books, including Klodin Erb (Mousse Publishing, 2023) and Hanna Villiger – Roma and Afterwards (Mousse Publishing).
In June 2025, she will take on the role of director of Haus für Kunst Uri in Altdorf.
