From 21 March to 26 April 2026, Udine hosts the city-wide project “Ulay, Marina, Igor. Una nuova storia”, a multidisciplinary programme that not only celebrates one of the most iconic artistic and human partnerships of the twentieth century—the bond between Ulay and Marina Abramović—but also brings it into the present through Igor Andjelić’s perspective, the new companion of Lena Pislak, Ulay’s widow.
For this occasion, Filippo Sorcinelli has been invited to contribute to an immersive intervention inside the Church of San Francesco, titled “Tra Sacro e Profano”. Here, the “true heartbeat” of the exhibition resonates. Although the church has been deconsecrated, this does not represent a cancellation of meaning so much as a shift in function. Within a space no longer supported by an institutional guarantee of spiritual value, the project aims to demonstrate the possibility of conceiving the sacred outside dogma. This condition of presence is realized through the relationship between light, body, and gaze.
As a result, the church’s aisles fill with a new energy. Between a confessional and a cross that defies convention, visitors are no longer only spectators: they become pilgrims, invited to perform an intimate gesture of participation—a “pink gesture”. Participants are asked to bring a small pink object to entrust to a “sanctuary” dedicated to Ulay, transforming the visit into a shared, ritual experience. When deposited inside the exhibition, the object symbolically leaves behind a fragment of personal pain—sadness or memory.
That recollection then takes on life in an environment where the air vibrates, dense with the fragrance Sorcinelli has selected for the occasion among his creations, turning the visit into a total sensory experience.
In this context, Sorcinelli’s olfactory intervention becomes a structural element of the overall experience. The fragrance diffused throughout the space is the result of an original composition created specifically for the exhibition, in close relationship with its conceptual and symbolic framework.
Conceived as an element embedded within the DNA of the intervention, the scent is designed to inhabit the church’s air and act as invisible matter capable of connecting multiple levels of the experience: the individual memory evoked by the offering; the performative tension inherited from Abramović and Ulay; the architectural dimension of the space; and the light that crosses surfaces and bodies.
The fragrance is conceived as an olfactory composition that reflects contemporary ritual. It operates with effectiveness: it travels through subtle vibrations and establishes an immediate connection with the emotional dimension of memory.
Its development reveals a layering that echoes elements of ancient sacrality—such as resins, vapours, and balsamic nuances—paired with more discreet, bodily notes, creating a dynamic balance that reflects the exhibition’s central theme: the coexistence of contrasting tensions and the ongoing dialogue between spiritual elevation and material reality.
In fact, the air itself becomes active space—a place of sensory passage and a device for transformation. The perfume functions as an immaterial structure that harmonizes the itinerary and leaves a lasting imprint, extending its influence beyond the duration of the visit.
The exhibition is organized by PUNTO APS Udine, with the patronage and contribution of the Municipality of Udine and IO SONO FVG. Artistic direction is by Tomi Vugrinec, while the installation is curated by Igor Andjelić and Marco Viola.
In Udine, the project continues across other venues: at the spaces of Galleria Punto with Igor Andjelić’s solo exhibition Casa Come Me; and at Moroso Design Outlet, a concept store that becomes a space for narration and vision, where design meets contemporary art in an open and layered dialogue with works by Kristjan Antolovic, Giona Maiarelli, and Maurizio Ciancia, engaging with the giant shadows of Ulay, Marina Abramović, and Igor Andjelic.
Photo credits: San Francesco church in Udine
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