On 5 December 2020, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (MAECI) joins the XVI edition of Italian Contemporary Art Day, an initiative promoted by AMACI (Association of Italian Museums of Contemporary Art) that involves museums, foundations, and public and private institutions, in order to present the vitality of contemporary art in Italy.
In particular, from 5 to 11 December, the world-wide network of the MAECI will take part in the “Giornata del Contemporaneo – Italian Contemporary Art”, for the third time, presenting a rich program of initiatives – mostly digital – on Italian contemporary art, with the aim of highlighting not only artists and their artwork, but also museum directors, curators, critics, art magazines and books.
The Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs will also participate through programs on the “Collezione Farnesina”, the collection of contemporary art housed in the Ministry. In particular, it will be possible to virtually visit the Collection through ten short videos, created in collaboration with the Italian Touring Club, which will provide insight on some pieces of the Collection.
The Embassy of Italy in Washington, D.C., and the Italian consular and cultural network in the United States, will organize various initiatives throughout the Country. On 7 December, the Embassy and the Italian Cultural Institute in Washington will host a conversation with Eugenio Re Rebaudengo (Sandretto Re Rebaudengo Foundation) and Andrew Berardini (American contemporary art critic) analyzing the role of galleries and curators in acknowledging and defining a market for contemporary art, while exploring some of the most intriguing creations by Italian contemporary artists. In San Francisco, the Consulate General and the Italian Cultural Institute will host the webinar “Art, Labor and Artificial Intelligence” on 9 December, a discussion between the Italian artist Elisa Giardina Papa and the curator Valentino Catricalà on art and new technologies. The Consulate General and the Italian Cultural Institute in Los Angeles will launch a virtual tour of the studio of artists Mattia Biagi and Valerj Pobega, while the Consulate General in Miami will organize an exhibition on emerging artist Riccardo Raul Papavero at the Istituto Marangoni, within the prestigious Miami Design District.
The program of initiatives in the USA will also include a highlight on two exhibitions currently on view: “Women to Watch – Paper Routes” at the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington, D.C., which features the work of Italian artist Elisabetta Di Maggio and “Silent Revolutions: Italian Drawings from the Twentieth Century” at the Menil Drawing Institute of Houston, organized in collaboration with the Ramo Collection in Milan, Italy.
“This rich program of initiatives not only highlights Italian creativity and ingenuity, but also reaffirms the importance of contemporary art as a medium for dialogue between our societies,” stated Ambassador Varricchio. “In the following week, we will present various members of the contemporary art community, who will provide insight on the new languages and horizons of Italian contemporary art.”