September 22 – December 11, 2026
Italian Cultural Institute in Chicago
Visits: Monday-Friday, 10am-4:30pm, by appointment only
Opening: September 22, 2026, on the occasion of the inauguration of the Italian Cultural Institute.
The Italian Cultural Institute of Chicago presents A Palm of Victory, the first Chicago exhibition of acclaimed Italian artist Emilia Faro curated by Maria Chiara Di Trapani.
The exhibition evokes an imaginative palm grove where color, form, and movement celebrate the palm tree as a symbol of beauty, resilience, and rebirth. Through watercolor, video, and sculpture, the works explore the tree of life and invite viewers to immerse themselves in its poetic landscape.
“I am delighted that my garden of soaring palms is inaugurating the Italian Cultural Institute in Chicago’s new space. Following New York, Santa Fe, and Colorado Springs, Chicago marks my fourth exhibition in the United States. While these locations are geographically far from where I live, art bridges the distance and makes them feel close to me. I consider this exhibition a unique opportunity for connection, dialogue, and sharing. The palm stands as a symbol of victory: even while bearing the weight of its fruit, it does not bend. On the contrary, it rises and reaches ever higher. The horse, with its courage and strength, becomes the steed that accompanies us through the battles of life. Palm trees have a surprising presence in Chicago. At the Garfield Park Conservatory and the Lincoln Park Conservatory, it is possible to visit two of the city’s historic Palm Houses and discover lush collections of palms from around the world. Places suspended in time, where nature, architecture, and dreams seem to meet. Through my exhibition, I seek to bring to the heart of the city the same exotic and dreamlike feeling that one experiences upon entering a palm greenhouse: a space that evokes distant lands, imagination, and wonder. A small symbolic garden where visitors may feel transported elsewhere, while remaining in the center of Chicago. Through these works, I hope to convey a message of joy, hope, and strength, one that may reach and touch all those who visit the exhibition.” Emilia Faro
“Soaring palms. For millennia in Mediterranean culture, the palm trunk’s upward reach toward the sky has served as a bridge between earth and heaven, a symbol that reconciles opposites: masculine and feminine, root and crown, the time of human beings and the time of the divine. A metaphor for beauty, elegance, grace, and stability, it evokes distant lands and fiery skies. It is this sense of momentum that has captured Emilia Faro’s attention for years. A Palm of Victory is an attempt to evoke the sensation of standing beneath a palm tree and being immersed in its movement. The watercolors, videos, and sculptures on display in the Italian Cultural Institute’s space come together to create an imaginary palm grove suspended between nature and dream, in which shapes and colors form a visionary landscape. A highlight of the video works is A Palm of Victory I Shall Wear (2013), inspired by an early American gospel song, which casts the palm tree as a symbol of victory and redemption. The ability of this tree to bend in the wind without breaking becomes a metaphor for resilience, transforming fragility into rebirth. The artist examines the contemporary human condition and its relationship with nature, inviting visitors to rediscover their own vitality and allow themselves to be moved by the wind.” Maria Chiara Di Trapani
Born in Catania and now based in Turin, Emilia Faro is an Italian contemporary artist whose evocative works intertwine personal narratives with universal questions of resilience, transformation and emotional freedom. Among her notable works are the videos “Esercizi di seduzione” (2018), “The path” (2014) and “A palm of Victory I shall wear ” (2013), and the watercolor series “Blue Palm” and “Corpi Celesti”. Her work has been exhibited throughout Italy and internationally in Germany and the United States, including presentations at the Videoinsight® Foundation, Galleria JB Fine Arts (Hamburg), and the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center. Faro studied at the University of Catania before continuing her education at the École du Louvre in Paris.
Admission is free and open to the public. Registration is required for all visits. To register, please email iicchicago@esteri.it with your preferred date and time of visit.