The interactive exhibition “A World of Potential”
Tickets and opening hours
A World of Potential and collateral activities
We believe no one should be held back from reaching their potential. This is the message we want to share through "A World of Potential", the interactive exhibition hosted on the third floor of the Procuratie Vecchie, Home of The Human Safety Net in St. Mark's Square, in Venice.
Suitable for visitors of all ages and focused on personal awareness, "A World of Potential" offers visitors a fun and playful experience to understand and connect with their character strengths while also enabling them to see the best qualities in the people around them.
The Exhibition is designed by Migliore+Servetto as a progression of experiences that lead visitors to discover their own potential starting from values such as creativity, perseverance, gratitude, curiosity, hope, social intelligence, and teamwork.
These concepts have been translated into 16 interactive installations, both analogue and digital, capable of engaging the most diverse audiences and generating reflection and self-analysis.
The Exhibition is curated by Orna Cohen, co-founder of Dialogue Social Enterprise (DSE), a social enterprise based out of Hamburg, Germany, which has facilitated since 1988 the social inclusion of vulnerable people through exhibitions and workshops worldwide.
"The human need and urgency to share time and experiences together are strong and vibrant. Therefore, I expect that "A World of Potential" interactive Exhibition will rapidly attract visitors precisely because of its innovative and interactive nature. Furthermore, its content is very timely, since we became aware of our vulnerability during the pandemic and had to rely on our strengths and solidarity. And that's exactly the point of The Human Safety Net."
Orna Cohen, co-founder of Dialogue Social Enterprise and curator of the interactive exhibition "A World of Potential"
In the early 2000s, the American psychologists Martin Seligman and Christopher Peterson developed the VIA (Values in Action) method, which provides a list of 24-character strengths. VIA is universal and can be applied to all humans, anywhere in the world. It is based on the idea that character strengths are inherent to all of us and that they can be strengthened over time.
The 14 values featured in "A World of Potential" were selected with the help of experts from the Mayerson Academy, a nonprofit organization based in Cincinnati, Ohio (USA), committed to using character science to create great places to learn and work.
Visitors explore the space in a progression of experiences that increase their self-awareness and perception of the world. It is something real, which acts on the senses and memory, and gives rise to positive emotions. But it is also an experience that creates a shift from "me" to "we."
In the final part, visitors have the opportunity to learn more about the activities run by the Human Safety Net and are be able to join our global movement of people helping people by donating half of the ticket price to one of the two programmes.
Activities for schools and families
The Art Studio
Next to the exhibition space, a large open area is dedicated to works by artists who interpret themes related to the programmes of The Human Safety Net and the values and strengths expressed in the permanent exhibition ‘A World of Potential’.
On 8 May, the exhibition entitled ‘Dreams in Transit’ was inaugurated, featuring works by Ange Leccia, Leila Alaoui, Lorraine de Sagazan & Anouk Maugein and Sarah Makharine. The exhibition is part of the programme ‘The Parliament of The Invisibles’ developed by Art for Action and based on an idea by artist Anish Kapoor.
The first exhibition hosted in the Art Studio was, from April 2022 to March 2023, ‘CHUTZPAH - A tent that is not a tent, animals that are not animals’, an artistic project by Atelier dell'Errore (AdE) BIG, curated by Gabi Scardi. The second, from April 2023 to March 2024, was ‘The Hungriest Eye. The Blossoming of Potential’ by Arthur Duff, followed, from April 2024 to March 2025, by ‘About Us’ by Tracey Snelling. Both exhibitions were curated by Luca Massimo Barbero.
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