Not more, but deeper: Ordet’s curatorial and editorial vision 

At the intersection of contemporary art and publishing, Ordet and its sister project Lenz Press champion a thoughtful, sustainable, and collaborative approach to cultural production in today’s accelerated world

Language, expression, and the origins of Ordet: a contemporary art space founded by Edoardo Bonaspetti and Stefano Cernuschi

Founded in 2019 by Edoardo Bonaspetti and Stefano Cernuschi, Ordet is a non -profit contemporary art space, recently relocated to the Città Studi district at Via Filippino Lippi 4, Milan. The name Ordet means “word” in Danish — a choice that is far from accidental. It evokes communication, ideas, and the potential for expression. It also pays tribute to the 1955 film of the same name by Carl Theodor Dreyer, apowerful and paradoxical work rich in symbolism. 

The cinematic reference mirrors the project’s ethos: a space dedicated to exploring the contemporary through multiple languages and expressive practices that intersect across cultural, social, political, and environmental levels. Ordet positions itself as an experimental environment, open to dialogue between artists and their context, where the word, as possibility and narrative, is central. The founders have described it as a “space of possibility,” and this is more than an ideal: it’s a working method reflected in the often non-linear processes that lead to each exhibition.

Ordet’s non-commercial nature allows for a rare kind of operational freedom, both for its organizers and the artists involved. In this environment, free from market pressures, the moments of transformation become revelatory: ideas shift, artworks take unexpected directions, and approaches reshape themselves along the way. “Sometimes we’re the first to be surprised,” states Edoardo, “and it’s in these shifts that we find one of the most meaningful and exciting aspects of what we do.”

Ordet as a multidisciplinary art space in Milan fostering cultural, social, and environmental dialogue

Ordet occupies a 250-square-metre former garage transformed into a dynamic exhibition venue, with a wide program that includes exhibitions, events, talks and book presentations, placing artists, curators, and specialists at the center of its activities. The space aims to offer a multidisciplinary approach capable of stimulating original perspectives and new views about contemporary art. In addition to its exhibition space, Ordet opened Lenz Press, a contemporary art and culture publishing house located next to the exhibition space, at Via Filippino Lippi 10. The bookshop serves as both a retail space and the office and welcome desk for Ordet.

Supported by a circle of Friends and Patrons, an Advisory Committee, and a wider community of artists, reflecting its collaborative and experimental ethos, Ordet benefits also from close cooperation with institutions and museums, both nationally and internationally.

A curatorial method based on intuition, dialogue, and the value of the unfinished in contemporary art

At the heart of Ordet’s program is a curatorial practice that resists formulaic approaches. Rather than relying on fixed formats or predetermined outcomes, exhibitions at Ordet are shaped through dialogue, intuition, and a shared process of discovery between curators, artists, and the space itself. This openness to uncertainty reflects a larger belief in the value of the unfinished, the fragmentary, and the marginal, forms of knowledge and creation that often remain outside institutional frameworks. Each project becomes a unique constellation, guided not by the demands of production but by the integrity of the ideas it seeks to explore. In this way, Ordet challenges the exhibition as a rigid container, proposing instead a model that is porous, dynamic, and fundamentally human.

The relevance of a physical space in the cultural landscape today

In a time dominated by infinite images and increasingly fast, surface-level consumption, Ordet offers a conscious alternative. The experience of a physical exhibition, with its slow pace and spatial dimension, becomes a necessary act. “We need places that offer different perspectives to immerse ourselves in,” observes Edoardo. A multisensory relationship with artworks that thus needs different temporalities. Slowness here is not stagnation, but a cultural stance that embraces the complexity of the world, even when that means stepping into uncertainty. 

Edoardo: “To make art today means confronting complexity, and often, it means accepting instability.”

Publishing with purpose: how Lenz Press merges sustainability and editorial depth in art books

Alongside this stands Lenz, the publishing house founded after the opening of the exhibition space. Here too, the approach is clear: agile, sustainable, and quality-driven. Each publication is developed by a dedicated team and crafted with close attention to both content and form. “We prefer to publish less but with great care,” explains Edoardo, highlighting how this reduces cultural, economic, and environmental waste. Two distinct but deeply connected realities, Ordet and Lenz listen carefully to the present. Both reject the frantic pace of the art and publishing industries, instead favoring depth, meaning, and sustainability as cultural practices.

00970 as a platform for Palestinian voices and diasporic narratives

The exhibition currently on view at Ordet, open until the 20^th of September, is emblematic of the space’s curatorial approach and its broader perspective on contemporary art and culture. Titled 00970, Palestine’s international dialing code, the group show opens on July 3rd and brings together works by artists and filmmakers shaped by the Palestinian condition and diaspora. Structured around video works, films, and moving images, the exhibition explores urgent themes of identity, loss, and memory, while reflecting on the historical and personal consequences of war, occupation, and exile. 

Its layout unfolds as a collective geography, seeking to transcend geopolitical boundaries and reconstruct disrupted narratives. Far more than a numeric prefix, 00970 becomes a symbol of connection to a people enduring crisis, displacement, and systemic neglect. Behind these five digits lies a population fighting for survival amid war, deprivation, and a stark lack of international support. The exhibition confronts the global failure to act: a failure that normalizes injustice and violence, erodes empathy, and undermines the principles of international law and universal human rights

The selection of works and the involvement of the artists emerged from a collaborative, dialogic process, true to the spirit of the exhibition. 00970 acts as a point of contact: an attempt to bridge physical, cultural, and emotional distances. It opens a space for listening—amplifying voices that are too often silenced—and for rebuilding relationships grounded in recognition, reconciliation, and coexistence.

Exhibited artists: Basel Abbas e Ruanne Abou-Rahme, Noor Abed, Noor Abuarafeh, Razan Al Salah, Basma al Sharif, Marwa Arsanios, Taysir Batniji, Ali Cherri, Shadi Habib Allah, Inas Halabi, Emily Jacir, Mazen Kerbaj, Fransisca Khamis, Jumana Manna, Dina Mimi, Walid Raad, Huda Takriti, Oraib, Toukan, Akram Zaatari.

Sara Van Bussel