2026-02-17 | Caterina Pecchioli: solo exhibition at LdM Gallery, Florence, Italy
Our fellow Caterina Pecchioli is having a solo exhibition, in collaboration with Victor R. B. Abbey-Hart, 'Decolonising the Gaze,' at LdM Gallery in Florence, Italy. 'Decolonizing the Gaze' is an ongoing participative artistic and research project by the artist Caterina Pecchioli, with which she also participated in the Thami Mnyele Foundation residency in 2023 and 2025.
Decolonizing the Gaze is an ongoing participative artistic and research project by the artist Caterina Pecchioli that approaches colonialism by investigating fashion and textile design, combining aesthetics, history, and activism to critically approach the colonial legacy through material culture. The research took place in the deposits of museums in Italy and the Netherlands, in particular at the former colonial collections of the Museo delle Civiltà in Rome, critically examining fabrics, clothing and archive material. The discussion, involving stylists, artists and fashion designers from African countries and other states with a history of Italian and Dutch colonization, has allowed to examine new points of view and to identify new meanings in fashion practices and body politics that were widespread during the colonial period, and their effects on the individual and the collective imagination. The LdM Gallery will present the project in the form of an exhibition with works by Caterina Pecchioli in collaboration with Victor R.B. Abbey-Hart, during the 2026 edition of the BHMF.
"Decolonizing the Gaze" was supported by the Italian Council (11th edition, 2022), the program aims at supporting Italian contemporary art in the world and is promoted by the Directorate-General for Contemporary Creativity within the Italian Ministry of Culture.
Project and Concept: Caterina Pecchioli
Scientific Advisor: Enrica Picarelli
With the participation of:
Victor R.B. Abbey-Hart, Semhal Tsegaye Abebe, Noémi Beyer, Zinzi de Brouwer, Christine Delhaye, Delvin Nosakhare Ekhator, Carine Mansan Chowanek, Sharelly Emanuelson, Nathalie Ho Kang You, Roxane Mbanga, Linnemore Nefdt, Bubu Ogisi, Moustapha Sylla, Rhoda Woets, Siobhan Wall, Alessandra Vaccari, Willem van Zoetendaal.
Cultural Partners:
Africa e Mediterraneo Magazine, Afrosartorialism, B&W - Black&White, The Migrant Trend, CBK Zuidoost, Framer Framed, Georgetown Humanities Initiative, Italian Cultural Institute in Addis Ababa, Moleskine Foundation, Museo delle Civiltà, Nation25, Politecnico di Milano, Thami Mnyele Foundation, Iuav University of Venice, University of Naples "L'Orientale".
Victor Reginald Bob Abbey-Hart, born in 1991 in Saltpond, Ghana, is a fashion designer and creative director whose practice is rooted in sculpture, material research, and cultural inquiry. Early exposure to European luxury fashion shaped a sensibility that bridges craftsmanship with contemporary social narratives.
The LdM Gallery is a project by Istituto Lorenzo de’ Medici, an interdisciplinary space where academic research and artistic experimentation meet within a professional setting.
Opening Thursday February 19th, 5pm
From February 19 to March 20th
LdM Gallery, Via de’Pucci, 4 Florence