In Padua, in the splendid Palazzo della Ragione, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Yoko Ono presents "Ex It", a site-specific installation that has been exhibited in numerous international museums since 1997, made up of 100 wooden coffins of various sizes, with olive trees growing out of them as a metaphor for the resilience of life and the vitality of nature. A way of talking about peace and telling the story of life through the tragedy of death. The uniqueness of the exhibition in Padua lies in the fact that it was during a visit to the Salone del Palazzo della Ragione that Yoko Ono first thought of creating the work.

The artist tells:
"I had the opportunity to visit Padua, Italy. I was taken to an ancient stone palace built many centuries ago: Palazzo della Ragione, built in 1218. Without any explanation, a man took me up to the second floor. In front of me was a huge room, like a ballroom. Suddenly, in my vision, I saw many people lined up in the room. What was happening? At that moment the person who had taken me there explained to me that this was a room where executions were carried out. It was not a ballroom. I saw many, many coffins of men, women and children filling the room. Eventually, trees sprouted from each of the coffins. The trees became a forest. Birds were singing all around... and I began to cry. That's how this work was born. It is the memory of every race, every country. It is the memory of genocide: pain, horror and redemption. The dead wanted us to remember, I think. Our tears will help to heal the memory."