On Monday, January 26, 2026, a large paper mache polar bear, a monumental sculpture created by Jacopo Allegrucci, was placed at the entrance of Triennale Milano. From that location, the work will welcome visitors, journalists and athletes from around the world during the Milan Cortina 2026 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, fitting into the institution’s public path at a time of high international visibility.
The polar bear is part of a nucleus of works created by the artist for the 24th Inequalities International Exhibition and joins four other endangered animals conceived by Allegrucci for the occasion. The intervention renews an explicit reflection on the fragility of contemporary ecological reality, placing a species symbolic of ongoing environmental transformations at center stage. The installation is curated by Tommaso Tovaglieri.
“A testament to organic architecture and conceptual art, an allegorical figure of the contemporary condition: fallen but present, vulnerable but proud to be there,” Tovaglieri argues. “An ephemeral monument to the joy of participation, to the right to make mistakes, to the possibility that even lightness is a form of resistance.”
“We welcome in front of Triennale, after the blue whale, the Namibian elephant, the Rothschild’s giraffe and the hippopotamus, a large polar bear, another endangered species,” says Stefano Boeri, President of Triennale Milano. “In this case, however, it is a burlesque presence, in ironic tune with Milan’s celebration of the Winter Olympics. The joyful fragility of the paper mache modeled by Jacopo Allegrucci is the best way to invite the public to visit Triennale Milano during the Winter Olympics.”
The sculpture depicts the bear with skis on its feet: after a fall, instead of getting up and resuming the race, the animal indulges in ice cream, resting on an iceberg. The gesture directly alludes to the famous motto of Pierre de Coubertin, founder of the modern Olympic Games, “the important thing is not to win, but to participate,” proposing a reading that weaves irony and disillusionment. Failure to win becomes a secondary element to the experience itself, in a context that invokes the language of sport to shift attention to broader issues.
Jacopo Allegrucci’s installations for Triennale Milano originate from the process of material decay and take on symbolic value with respect to the environmental and social rifts that challenge the balance of the planet. By reproducing animals at risk of extinction, the artist establishes a parallelism between the precariousness of the species represented and the temporary nature of the material that composes them. Paper mache, a recyclable material par excellence, thus becomes a vehicle for a reflection on vulnerability and deterioration, accentuated by direct exposure to the elements.
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| A paper mache polar bear welcomes Milan Cortina 2026 at the Triennale |
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