After the great success achieved in Monza and Bologna, STREGHERIE. Iconography, rites and symbols of the heretics of knowledge also arrives in Padua, from 24 October 2025 to 1° February 2026. An event that transforms the witch into a contemporary symbol of knowledge, resistance and rebirth.
An exhibition of great visual impact that intertwines ancient engravings with bold content, rare esoteric texts from the sixteenth century and talismans from bygone eras, offering a suggestive look at the mysterious universe of witchcraft and the enigmatic figure of the witch.
This edition is completely renewed thanks to a new curatorship and an exhibition itinerary radically rethought. Guiding this new vision is the art historian, writer and criminologist, Andrea Pellegrino, who signs an unpublished, profound and surprising version of the exhibition.
Conceived as a real secular rite of passage, STREGHERIE is not just an artistic exhibition, but an immersive and transformative experience. Far from fairy-tale caricatures or the nightmares of the inquisition, the figure of the witch proposed in this project is an archetype rich in meaning: a woman who knows, a bearer of forgotten knowledge, a voice that resists.
The exhibition itinerary develops through nine narrative sections, which guide the visitor on a journey through myth, body, knowledge, persecution and rebirth. From the oracular and pre-Christian origins of the witch to its actualization as a symbol of political and cultural resistance, each room accompanies the public in a process of transformation, through works of art, installations, documents and ritual objects.
The exhibition will be enriched by collateral events, meetings, workshops and educational activities that delve deeper into the theme of the exhibition, with particular attention to the involvement of schools and universities.
The exhibition will be open to visitors from Wednesday to Sunday from 10.30 to 19.30 at the Ex Macello Cathedral – Padua.
For further information and to purchase tickets, consult the exhibition website at the following link: www.stregherie.it
With the collaboration of the Municipality of Padua.
