KYIV – VENICE: The Holy See Pavilion in dialogue with Natalia Dyachok, Dmytro Matyukhin, Yevhen Pylynsky and Andriy Moroz

Frequencies of the Soul

https://www.dce.va/en/news/2026/opening-of-the-holy-see-s-new-pavilion-at-the-venice-biennale.html

https://www.labiennale.org/en/art/2026/holy-see

Hildegard of Bingen, the medieval abbess, believed that sound is the shortest path to the soul, shorter even than words. At this year’s Biennale, the Holy See Pavilion revisits this idea through the project The Ear Is the Eye of the Soul, in which twenty contemporary composers respond to Hildegard’s chants with voice, instruments, and silence, transforming an ancient spiritual intuition into a practice of deep listening. The project invites visitors to immerse themselves in sound as a space of contemplation.

A related sensibility can be found in the practice of Ukrainian sound therapists Natalia Diachok and Dmytro Matiukhin. Their Temple of Sound is conceived as an immersive environment in which the body experiences harmony and stillness, gradually attuning itself to sound much as a musical instrument is tuned to a tuning fork.

While Hildegard sought spiritual restoration through sacred music, Temple of Sound explores the restorative potential of vibration and resonance. Though separated by centuries and shaped by different cultural contexts, both projects share a belief that sound precedes language, that before words are understood, they are first heard, and that attentive listening can become a path towards inner balance and renewal.