The Foundation of the Agostino Gemelli University Hospital IRCCS and Galleria Russo are pleased to present Materia e Visione (Matter and Vision), a charitable initiative dedicated to fostering dialogue between art, scientific research, and social commitment, in support of the Neonatology Unit of the Gemelli Hospital.
The event will open on Thursday, June 11 at 6:00 p.m. in the spaces of Galleria Russo in Rome and will bring together a selection of photographs, sculptures, and paintings conceived as testimony to a possible dialogue between artistic expression and civic responsibility. Professor Paolo Calabresi, Director of the Neurology Unit at the Gemelli Foundation, and Professor Luca Padua of the Italian Ministry of Health, will present their works in a setting where scientific experience and artistic sensitivity come together in a shared reflection on the value of care, research, and human relationships.
The project was conceived at a time when the relationship between culture and health is playing an increasingly central role in public and institutional debate. Recently, the Italian Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Health signed a memorandum of understanding aimed at strengthening the connection between culture and well-being, recognizing art and cultural experiences as tools capable of contributing to quality of life, human relationships, and healthcare pathways.
Within this framework, Materia e Visione aims to provide tangible support to the Neonatology Unit through a fundraising campaign dedicated to the acquisition of a SimNewB system, an innovative tetherless neonatal simulator designed for advanced simulation and clinical training.
All proceeds from sales will be donated to the Neonatology Unit of the Agostino Gemelli University Hospital Foundation IRCCS.
“I would like to thank the organizers and the artists of the Materia e Visione exhibition for this initiative and for their commitment to raising funds in support of the Neonatology Unit of the Agostino Gemelli University Hospital Foundation IRCCS. The funds will be used to purchase a high-fidelity tetherless neonatal simulator, developed in collaboration with the American Academy of Pediatrics and designed to meet the specific learning objectives of neonatal resuscitation protocols. This device is part of the ‘Golden Minute’ Project, which is particularly important to us neonatologists. Its goal is to ensure, through neonatal resuscitation training courses, that every healthcare professional caring for newborns can perform life-saving procedures flawlessly and at the appropriate time during the most delicate moments of a human being’s life—the first ten minutes after birth—thereby helping infants successfully transition from intrauterine to extrauterine life,” commented Professor Giovanni Vento, Director of the Neonatology Unit of the Agostino Gemelli University Hospital Foundation IRCCS.
“For Galleria Russo, it is a great pleasure to contribute to a project of such profound human and social value by making our spaces and expertise available in support of such a meaningful charitable initiative. We firmly believe that art and culture are not merely instruments of aesthetic contemplation but can become concrete opportunities for participation, solidarity, and shared responsibility. In this sense, the dialogue between art and philanthropy fully restores that dimension of beauty which, as in the classical tradition, can also be true, good, and useful,” stated Fabrizio Russo, Director of Galleria Russo.
With Materia e Visione, the Gemelli Foundation and Galleria Russo reaffirm their commitment to promoting initiatives capable of creating meaningful connections between culture and health, recognizing art as a space for encounter, awareness, and participation.