The title of the exhibition, "Before the rooster canti", derives from the title of the book that contains two short stories by Cesare Pavese, Il Carcere and La Casa in Collina, collected together and published in 1948. Pavese was born in Santo Stefano Belbo, in province of Cuneo, the same that houses Palazzo Re Rebaudengo. The exhibition links up with some of the themes dealt with in the two short stories (where they are explored in the context of the last days of World War II): action and inaction, safety and risk, and the ways in which individuals deal with or escape situations of catastrophe and chaos. , juggling emotions of horror and optimism. These are, once again, the critical poles between which our contemporary life is suspended.

Seen collectively, the works exhibited at the Foundation critically investigate the role that art plays in all of this, with one eye turned (sometimes nervously) to our present context and the other oriented (optimistically) towards new horizons, and they speak to interests municipalities and local variations faced by a variety of artists from all over the world.

The title given by Pavese refers to the passage from the Gospel in which Jesus predicts to Saint Peter that, "before the rooster crows", he will betray him three times: accordingly, the exhibition focuses on changing perspectives, reversals and alternative points of view, as well as how these are represented through different media at different times. In a further iteration of the theme of the private becoming public, the exhibition expands beyond the walls of the Foundation to include three churches, a private chapel and a former prison located within the town; It is complemented by the opening of the Foundation's new outdoor sculptural site, located on the nearby hill of San Licerio.