Daniel Pešta

“Where My Soul Compiles” is a poetic-spiritual inquiry that explores the place — whether real or metaphorical — where the soul gathers, integrates, and manifests its profound truth. In an era often marked by fragmentation and conflict, this reflection holds great relevance, emphasizing the need to identify a space for experiencing inner peace, emotional clarity, and a genuine sense of belonging.

The project title arises from the encounter between an ancient spiritual language and the digital terminology of code compilation — a technical process that unites heterogeneous elements to form a coherent and functional whole. Similarly, the exhibition aims to  investigate how human experience, both individual and collective, can gain meaning through the harmonious recomposition of emotions, memories, and values.

“Where My Soul Compiles” centers on deep listening to emotional wounds, social and civic suffering, and the human capacity to forge authentic connections, configuring itself as a sensory, participatory, and emotionally engaging experience rather than a traditional exhibition. The intent is to foster an emotional and communicative bridge between the artworks and visitors, promoting an experience that goes beyond mere aesthetic contemplation to achieve true sharing of feelings and sensitivities. It invites the rediscovery of one’s soul, both individual and collective, gahtering the many often-neglected facets of inner experience and encouraging a deep reconnection with the complexity and fragility of being human in contemporary times. The aim is to stimulate in viewers a rediscovery of their authentic human side, often veiled, by exalting values such as compassion, empathy, and humanity as foundations for reflection and dialogue.

The project involves two international artists, Daniel Pešta and Laura Mega, whose practices engage intensly and subtly with contemporary themes of significant social and human depth. In the exhibition space, paintings and artistic installations alternate with each other. Daniel Pešta, through a series of watercolors, addresses sublimation as a psychological defense stratégy: a process through which inner tensions and instinctual impulses are transformed into socially acceptable and positive behaviors. His poetics, imbued with a melancholy that borders on bearable sentimentality, reflect on the future as a realm of emotional complexity, where passive resignation becomes both an act of resistance and a source of hope. Laura Mega presents installations that explore the emotional dimension through soft and symbolic materials, where embroidered fabrics and evocative objects create an immersive and touching environment. These works evoke profound reflection on the dynamics of conflict and love, translating into tactile and participatory forms, themes such as fragility, collective memory, and mutual care. The works of both artists are designed to be traversed and experienced by the public, evoking dialogue between absence and presence, pain and comfort, generating sensory and intellectual involment that amplifies the universal message of humanity and connection.

“Where My Soul Compiles”
Works by Laura Mega and Daniel Pešta
Curated by Chiara Modìca Donà dalle Rose

6 May – 22 November 2026
Garibaldi Gallery, Via Giuseppe Garibaldi, Castello 1815, Venice
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More info: https://museummontanelli.com