The Merz Foundation presents, from Monday 31 October 2022 to Sunday 29 January 2023, the solo exhibition ALERT by the artist Michal Rovner (Israel, 1957). The project, curated by Beatrice Merz and conceived specifically for the spaces of Via Limone 24 in Turin, gives the public an immersive experience that has its roots in the artist's practice.

Inserted in the wake of a multi-year research promoted by the artist and which sees art dialogue with archeology and politics, ALERT evokes the themes and practices refined by Michal Rovner over the years, with particular attention to the video mapping technique . The exhibition project, transforming the spaces of the Foundation, welcomes the visitor into a hidden space without light, similar to waiting places where to observe and study the jackals, the real protagonists of the exhibition, who take possession of the environment and inhabit it by showing themselves as absolute guardians.

ALERT explores the state of alertness and the sense of fear that arises from the encounter with the other, with what is not familiar and therefore is perceived as hostile. To fully return this sentiment shared globally, Michal Rovner identifies as particularly evocative the figure of the jackal, an animal traditionally associated with scenarios of destruction and little inclined to contact with humans. The intense field research, which saw the artist immerse himself in the natural nocturnal habitat of the jackal, aroused a strong fascination for the sounds produced by the animal and for its powerful iconographic heritage. The jackal, in fact, is inextricably linked to the mythological figure of the Egyptian god Anubis, destined to accompany the souls of the dead on their journey towards life beyond death and to act as a divine intermediary between heaven and earth.

Sliding along the walls and taking possession of the space, Michal Rovner's jackals build an environment in tension where they take on the role of menacing observers, placing the visitor in the uncomfortable position of an alien and unwelcome element. In a reversal of perspectives, the human being reveals himself as an intruder as much as the jackal is alien to him and is conveyed to the heart of the exhibition project