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The Catholic Universities Art Triennale, or ArtCut, has opened an inaugural series of exhibitions across seven cities, featuring more than 100 artists. Organized around “Exercises in Empathy,” the project foregrounds human experience and responds to Pope Leo XIV’s stated concerns about artificial intelligence’s limits in making art.
The Vatican-backed Catholic Universities Art Triennale has brought more than 100 artists to seven simultaneous exhibitions, making human creativity and empathy the focus of its inaugural edition as artificial intelligence becomes more prominent in artistic practice. Called ArtCut, the series is organized under the theme “Exercises in Empathy” and responds to Pope Leo XIV’s argument that AI systems lack dimensions of human understanding needed to create art.
ArtCut was commissioned by Cardinal Tolentino de Mendonça, prefect of the Holy See’s Dicastery for Culture and Education. The exhibitions are hosted at Catholic universities in Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Italy, Portugal, Angola and the United States. The source describes the shows as simultaneous, but does not provide their opening or closing dates.
Artists named in the report include Arthur Jafa, Jeremy Frey and Mona Hatoum. The reported works also include Vanderlei Lopes’s Coração (2013), Julião Sarmento’s Perfect Home (2019), Andreia Santana’s Walk Through Frame (2024) and Carlos Bunga’s Nómada. Aprendendo a fazer o pino (2025). The exhibitions examine different aspects of human life, including physical and intellectual experience.
The triennale’s framing places empathy and self-reflection at the center of human progress rather than technological advancement alone. That is the organizers’ curatorial position; the source does not report that the exhibitions evaluate AI-generated art through a formal test or compare specific works made by people and machines.
Human Creativity Across Seven Cities
The project gives a shared platform to artists and Catholic universities across seven countries, while presenting a clear institutional view on a live debate: whether AI systems can make art in a sense comparable to human creators. Rather than treating technological capability as the sole measure, ArtCut asks viewers to attend to feeling, relationships and reflection as parts of artistic practice.
That framing matters beyond the exhibitions themselves because AI tools are increasingly part of discussions about how images and other creative work are produced. The triennale does not settle those questions, but it makes the Vatican’s emphasis on human experience visible through a large, coordinated contemporary-art program. Its reach and the range of artists involved also make the series a notable cultural statement, not just a single gallery show.
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Pope Leo XIV’s Argument on AI
The report says ArtCut expands on Pope Leo XIV’s message about protecting the human condition from AI’s capacity for manipulation and delusions of omnipotence. The triennale’s organizers connect that concern to art by emphasizing the experiences they view as specific to human creativity.
The pope’s comments, as quoted in the source, concern AI’s ability to understand its own output and the qualities through which people develop wisdom. ArtCut turns that argument into an exhibition framework: each participating show considers aspects of humanity, rather than focusing only on technical change. The source does not identify an earlier encyclical by title or give its publication date, so those details cannot be established from the supplied material.
Exhibition Dates and Scope
The supplied report does not give opening dates, closing dates, ticket information or details about public programming at the seven venues. It also does not specify how the exhibition themes differ from one university to another, or whether all participating shows include the same artists and works.
The source presents the pope’s view of AI and the triennale’s curatorial response, but does not describe a direct assessment of AI-produced artworks. It remains unclear how the exhibitions address particular AI tools, how artists in the series use or reject them, and whether the organizers plan to publish further material about the shows.
Visitors Await Venue Details
The exhibitions are described as simultaneous and spread across the seven university locations. Readers seeking to attend will need venue-specific schedules and visitor information, which are not included in the supplied report. The source also does not state when the next ArtCut edition will take place; as a triennale, the project is framed as a recurring series, but no future dates are confirmed here.
Key Questions
What is the Catholic Universities Art Triennale?
ArtCut is a Vatican-commissioned contemporary-art exhibition series organized at Catholic universities in seven countries. Its inaugural edition is themed “Exercises in Empathy.”
Which artists are included?
The report names Arthur Jafa, Jeremy Frey and Mona Hatoum, among more than 100 artists. It also identifies works by Vanderlei Lopes, Julião Sarmento, Andreia Santana and Carlos Bunga.
Where are the exhibitions taking place?
The exhibitions are hosted at Catholic universities in Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Italy, Portugal, Angola and the United States.
Is ArtCut directly testing whether AI can make art?
The source describes a curatorial response to AI, centered on human experience, empathy and reflection. It does not report a formal test or a direct comparison between AI-generated and human-made works.
When can the public visit?
The supplied report does not include opening or closing dates or visitor details. Those schedules remain to be confirmed through the participating venues.
Source: hyperallergic.com
