Introduction
Opera as the World witnesses the encounter between the visual arts and opera in the 20th and 21st centuries. Beyond the straightforward presentation of opera sets created by artists, the exhibition aims to shed new light on the resonance, and tensions, between opera and the Wagnerian legacy of the Gesamtkunstwerk (Total work of art concept) (“total artform”), exploring how the visual arts and lyric theatre have enriched one another and, at times, become sources of mutual, radical influence and inspiration. In this two-way relationship, opera is a fertile ground for experiment and the fomenting of new aesthetic and political sensibilities.