Giuseppe Penone: The Inner Flow of Life will transform the National Museum of Qatar’s Baraha and Old Palace through a series of pavilions, sculptures and outdoor installations by one of Italy's most prominent contemporary artists.

Featuring works from 1969 to the present, the exhibition foregrounds Penone’s enduring interest in the synergy between organic and artistic processes and the poetic relationship between humans and the environment. Along with works in wood, iron, bronze, clay and marble, the exhibition is accompanied by a newly installed public sculpture, Idee di Pietra, at the Doha Old Port.

Giuseppe Penone, Alberi libro (Book Trees), 2017, and Respirare l’ombra (To Breathe the Shadow), 2000. Installation view, Serpentine South. Photo: George Darrell. Courtesy of Giuseppe Penone and Serpentine

Giuseppe Penone was born in Garessio, Italy, in 1947. Long related to developments in sculpture in the 60s and 70s, and to Arte Povera,  Penone’s work retains its own distinctive character, incorporating different meanings related to the natural world and the notion of living sculpture.

Penone’s interest in the space between the hand and the touched surface that becomes sculpture and drawing, between imprint and sight, gesture and action, has been sustained throughout his body of work. Sculptural transformations draw the viewer’s attention to details that have long existed but are easily overlooked. By bringing the grandeur — as well as the modesty and intimacy — of raw but also cultural material into various settings,  Penone raises questions about sculpture and its essence.

This exhibition is organised in partnership with Studio Giuseppe Penone and is curated by Hans Ulrich Obrist and Issa Al Shirawi.