Italian artist Valerio Berruti transformed a childhood memory of his mother weeping over her own childhood photo into a powerful artistic mission. His exhibition ‘More Than Kids,’ now premiering at Milan’s Palazzo Reale, positions children as protagonists to compel adult attention toward urgent global crises. “Having that photo’s superpower is what I wanted at five years old,” reflects Berruti, 48, revealing that the children depicted “are us.”
Monumental sculptures, tapestries, drawings, and animations feature children whose gazes direct viewers toward inescapable realities: wars, migration, and climate change. “To stay silent today,” Berruti emphasizes, “is to be complicit.” A colossal bust of a girl in the palace courtyard, titled ‘Don’t Let Me Be Wrong,’ points accusingly skyward toward climate catastrophe’s point of no return, accompanied by a soundtrack from Massive Attack’s Daddy G. Inside, another child suspended in a life raft in darkness underscores the migration crisis.
The exhibition includes ‘A New World,’ a monumental shadow-play installation scaling Palazzo Reale’s walls, and ‘The Strongest Embrace’ – the sole piece depicting physical contact. Notably, proceeds from ‘The Strongest Embrace’ funded Verduno Hospital in Cuneo during the COVID-19 pandemic and a mobile clinic for the region, raising €140,000.
‘In Silence’ features sun-scorched body casts representing humanity’s inertia against climate threats. ‘In the Name of the Father’ delivers a silent scream against war: 42 children with identical faces but diverse hairstyles (symbolizing global conflicts) stare down at a peer unable to meet their gaze. Berruti intentionally leaves the figure’s identity ambiguous, inviting viewer interpretation and critical thought.
The exhibition concludes with a moment of levity: a grand white carousel featuring sparrows instead of horses, revolving to an original score by Ludovico Einaudi.