The exhibition is inspired by a unique aspect of the Oratory's history: during the summer months, the relics of Saint Barbara are temporarily transferred to Rome, leaving the altar empty. This symbolic absence becomes the starting point for a reflection on human vulnerability, mercy and shared responsibility.

Through sculptures, paintings by Andrea Tragliapietra, and Mariarosa Vio's performance video Miserere Domini, the exhibition explores themes including war, migration, environmental disasters, marginalisation and violence, questioning how contemporary society perceives and responds to the suffering of others.

The installation is conceived in close dialogue with the historic architecture of the Oratory, where a construction scaffold becomes both an exhibition structure and a metaphor for mercy as an ongoing process of care, repair and responsibility.

Miserere marks the first exhibition programme of BAC - Burano Arte Contemporanea, reaffirming Burano's potential as a site for contemporary artistic research alongside its rich historical and cultural identity.