The Italian Cultural Institute of Pretoria is pleased to celebrate the 2026 Giornata del Contemporaneo by setting sail on the maritime routes of Pro tempore, the new artistic project by Italian artist Luca Vitone.
On 9th October 2026, the Institute will present an exclusive preview of the teaser created by Luca Vitone trough his maritime journey, from the Island of Elba to the island of Saint Helena, following the route of Napoleon Bonaparte.
The figure of Napoleon Bonaparte and the sea become the starting points for a reflection on power, borders, control and freedom: an ever-moving space that has always been at the centre of human attempts to define, control and conquer territory.
Through images of the journey and the sea, Pro tempore transforms a historical episode into a contemporary artistic reflection on the nature of power and its limits.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OmiqUyzzWfk&t=14s
PRO TEMPORE – THE PROJECT
Pro tempore is the result of a journey by sea undertaken by Luca Vitone aboard the sailing boat Adriatica. The journey began on 29 April 2026 from the Island of Elba, Napoleon’s first place of exile, and will end on the island of Saint Helena, where the emperor spent the final years of his life.
The route crosses the Mediterranean and the Atlantic, with intermediate stops in the Balearic Islands, Algeciras, the Canary Islands and Cape Verde.
For Vitone, the journey is not simply a historical reconstruction. The sea becomes a central element of the artistic investigation: a space that has long been subject to human attempts at control, while remaining, by its very nature, unpredictable and impossible to fully govern.
The project explores the relationship between power and territory, using Napoleon’s history as a point of departure.
Pro tempore is supported by the Directorate-General for Contemporary Creativity of the Italian Ministry of Culture as part of the 14th edition of Italian Council, a programme dedicated to the international promotion of Italian contemporary art.
LUCA VITONE
Luca Vitone was born in Genoa in 1964 and lives and works between Berlin and Milan. Since 2006, he has been a professor at NABA – Nuova Accademia di Belle Arti in Milan. His artistic research focuses on the relationships between geography, history, memory, territory and identity, exploring the ways in which places are represented, experienced and remembered.
Throughout his career, Vitone has worked across different media and has exhibited in major Italian and international institutions, like La Biennale di Venezia.
Vitone’s work is held in important public and private collections in Italy and abroad.