Why Look at Animals? A Case for the Rights of Non-Human Lives

Elisabetta Benassi, Rossella Biscotti, Denicolai & Provoost, Tiziana Pers, and Marta Roberti are the Italian artists participating in the group exhibition "Why Look at Animals? A Case for the Rights of Non-Human Lives" at the EMST Museum in Athens, curated by Katerina Gregos, from May 16, 2025, to February 15, 2026.

The exhibition focuses on animal rights and welfare, highlighting the need to recognize and defend the lives of non-human animals in an anthropocentric world that marginalizes, oppresses, and brutalizes them. The show draws inspiration from John Berger’s seminal text of the same name, “Why Look at Animals?” (1980), which explores the human-animal relationship in modernity and how animals have been marginalized in human societies. Featuring over 60 artists from four continents and more than 200 works occupying all floors of the museum, Why Look at Animals? is the largest exhibition ever organized by EMST and the first major international exhibition on non-human animal rights.

In the image: Tiziana Pers, Saut dans le vide (still), 2016, Courtesy of the artist.

other exhibitions

all the exhibitions

exhibition09 November 2025 Paola Pivi’s exhibition I don’t like it, I love it opens at AGWA in Australia exhibition05 November 2025 Maurizio Cattelan Awarded the Preis der Nationalgalerie 2026 agenda31 October 2025 "Art Under 35: The Foreign Challenge" exhibition18 September 2025 Italy and Lithuania in Kaunas: An Encounter between Nature and Creativity Echoes Between Forests and Mountains is the collateral exhibition of the 15th Kaunas Biennial (Lithuania), a collaboration between the Directorate-General for Contemporary Creativity of the Ministry of Culture, the Italian Cultural Institute in Vilnius, the Kaunas Biennial and the Gherdëina Biennial.
The exhibition will be on display at the Kaunas City Museum and the Meno parkas Gallery from 12 September to 9 November 2025. It offers a stimulating dialogue between Italian artists — such as the Atelier dell'Errore collective, Arnold Holzknecht (Val Gardena, 1960) and Ruth Beraha (Milan, 1986) — and Lithuanian artists, including Aistė Ambrazevičiūtė, Andrius Arutiunian and Maximilian Oprishka.
The exhibition explores the complex relationship between nature, myth, technology and human intervention, inviting viewers to reflect on ecological processes, human stories and possible futures. The selected works offer new perspectives on the world, questioning the anthropocentric view and revealing the tension between beauty, instability and mystery.
The project is part of a broader two-year programme (2025-2026) dedicated to cultural exchange between Italy and Lithuania, aimed at promoting the artistic talents of both countries. The collaboration will conclude in 2026, when three Lithuanian artists will be guests at the 10th Gherdëina Biennale in Val Gardena (BZ), from 29 May to 13 September.
Atelier dell'Errore (AdE) is an artistic collective based in Reggio Emilia, dedicated to the visual and performing arts. Founded in 2015 by artist Luca Santiago Mora, the group now consists of 11 young neurodivergent artists.