The Lapidarium Museum
is pleased to invite you to the opening of the exhibition
Karin Ferrari – Paranjolly Symphony. How the Towers Learned to Dance
Rigo Gallery, Saturday, October 4th at 7 PM
Rigo Gallery presents Paranjolly Symphony, continuing Karin Ferrari’s exploration of pseudo-sacred architecture — secular buildings such as banks, hotels, and shopping centers that imitate the forms and symbols of sacred traditions.
Following earlier projects like New York City’s rooftop temples and wellness-hotel cult sites in Southeast Asia, Ferrari discovered another compelling subject in Istria, Croatia: historical watchtowers later repurposed as church towers. This research began during her 2023 residency in Kuberton, organized by Krinzinger Gallery in collaboration with the Museum Lapidarium.
Paranjolly Symphony investigates the overlaps between spaces of defense and devotion. Towers become a lens through which to consider verticality and its ambivalent symbolism. How does the upright form embody both surveillance as well as divine connection? How does the archetype of verticality resonate today — in skyscrapers, mobile phone masts, satellite towers, and even the endless vertical scroll of social media?
Ultimately, Ferrari reflects on how military and spiritual forces intertwine in collective culture and individual consciousness. Towers emerge as oscillating forms — between control and transcendence, worldly power and inner ritual — inviting viewers to reconsider the structures, external and internal, that shape how we believe, perceive, and inhabit the world.
Karin Ferrari’s exhibition is supported by the Austrian Cultural Forum Zagreb, the Federal Ministry for Arts, Culture, the Civil Service and Sport of the Republic of Austria, and the Department for German Culture of the Autonomous Province of Bolzano–South Tyrol. The poster image was created within the context of the BMKÖS research grant AI in the Arts.
The catalogue and the exhibition have been made possible through the support of the Austrian Cultural Forum Zagreb, the Federal Ministry of Housing, Arts, Culture, Media and Sport of the Republic of Austria, the Department for German Culture of the Autonomous Province of Bolzen/Bolzano–South Tyrol, the Ministry of Culture and Media of the Republic of Croatia, the Region of Istria – Administrative Department for Culture and Local Heritage Education, and the City of Novigrad–Cittanova.
The exihibition is on view until October 26th 2025.
Rigo Gallery, Velika ulica 5, 52466 Novigrad-Cittanova
Tel. +385 (0)52 726 582, e-mail: info@muzej-lapidarium.hr