Images of the World

Luciano Benetton, known for the global fashion brand, may have created the largest private art collection in the world. But the 25,000-piece strong art collection, named "Imago Mundi" ("Images of the World" in Latin), bears a unique story, according to a recent article in The Wall Street Journal—it is made up of artists from 155 countries, regions and artistic movements. 

Through this endeavor, Benetton sees an opportunity to celebrate both the world's diversity and its interconnectedness through artistic expression. Key to the heart of the collection is the storytelling that links culture, art and the world's geopolitical present. 

"Creating Imago Mundi has required prodigious feats of cultural diplomacy," The Wall Street Journal notes. "Its much-traveled founder and the more than 130 curators who assist him have journeyed to some of the the most isolated and troubled corners of the world...The collection includes more than 200 works from North Korea and a selection of works by Syrian artists put together in 2015 at the height of the country's civil war. There are works representing Kurds and Palestinians, the Aka Bayaka Pygmies of the Central African Republic and the Ainu of northern Japan."

Visit the Imago Mundi website here.

The the full article by John Hooper here in The Wall Street Journal (subscription required).