An exhibition by Jannis Kounellis was organized in Trieste (September, 7th 2013 – February, 2nd 2014) in a
building designed and constructed by the architect Giorgio Polli (Trieste, 1862-1942). The building was opened
as a Fish-market in 1913, beside the sea and in front of the Neoclassical buildings of the town, but now it
is used solely for exhibition purposes. An example of industrial archaeology, the interior has become in Kounellis’s
installation an integral part of a sacred epic of the Sea. The artist shows that the value of the building
can increase through its technological aspects, the specific relation between its interior and exterior, and also
its quality of space and light, and become a sort of “eco-museum”, an expression of the history of Trieste and
of that relationship with the sea that determines its cultural identity.
