Porto Alegre has gained a new visual landmark that unites the pioneering past with the future of relations between Italy and Rio Grande do Sul.
The Italian ambassador to Brazil, Alexander Cortese, and the consul general Valerio Caruso On Tuesday (24), they inaugurated the mural “Mother”, a 45-meter-high painting that occupies the facade of the building that will house the new Consulate General from May.
Women as the central focus of history.
Unlike traditional depictions that focus on men's manual labor, the mural "Mother" places femininity at the center of the migratory epic. The work, created by muralist [name missing],... Hanna Lucatelli curated by Giulia Lavinia LupoThe painting depicts a migrant woman with her children, symbolizing the "silent strength" that sustained Italian families in Rio Grande do Sul.
“This mural is a gift from Italy to Porto Alegre. It helps to give the Consulate an identity and represents a significant milestone for cultural relations,” said Ambassador Alessandro Cortese during the ceremony.
Memory, culture and identity
According to curator Giulia Lavinia Lupo, the work deals with "transformation." The central figure carries more than material possessions: it carries with it memory and culture, elements that connect past generations to Italian-Brazilians of today.
The choice of street art (muralism) also carries a political and social message: to make Italian aesthetics — historically linked to museums and galleries — accessible to everyone who walks the streets of the capital of Rio Grande do Sul.
New headquarters in May
The unveiling of the mural serves as the definitive "calling card" for the new headquarters of Consulate General of Italy in Porto AlegreWith the move scheduled for May 2026, the consulate seeks to modernize its services and offer a structure worthy of the Italian community in Rio Grande do Sul, considered one of the most vibrant in Brazil.
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