Museums Talk: From Italy

CURRENT EVENT

Thinking Like a Mountain

Friday, March 1, 2024, 19.00

Venue: Istanbul Modern Auditorium

Lorenzo Giusti

Director

GAMeC - Galleria d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea di Bergamo

Since its establishment in 1991, GAMeC - Galleria d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea di Bergamo has been welcoming art enthusiasts in a 15th-century monastery building. Upholding the art patronage tradition of the city of Bergamo to the present day, the museum collections have around 3,000 artworks dating from the early 20th century to today. Besides its main collections, GAMeC also houses the Spajani Collection featuring works by major 20th-century artists such as Balla, Boccioni, de Chirico, Kandinsky, and Morandi; the Manzù Collection, which is donated to the city of Bergamo by the sculptor himself; the Succhi Collection focusing on the 1950s and 1960s; and some works from the Accademia Carrara collections.

GAMeC’s new building, to be located within the Palazzetto dello Sport [Small Sports Palace], is planned to open in 2026. The project, led by the architectural firm C + S, founded by Carlo Cappai and Maria Alessandra Segantini, is designed to accommodate the museum’s exhibitions on art movements, artists, and various themes, while at the same time addressing its diverse programs and other current needs of the institution. The new project is not only the transformation of a sports hall from the 1960s but also an urban-scale intervention.

The title of the speech by GAMeC’s director, Lorenzo Giusti, “Thinking Like a Mountain,” demonstrates that the museum’s vision for the future is not limited to the new building. Focusing on sustainability and community, the two-year project “Thinking Like a Mountain” envisages becoming a multi-faceted program of events with the involvement of twenty artists or artists collectives. Giusti, who has previously worked in institutions and events such as Kunsthaus Baselland, Biennale di Venezia, Palazzo Grassi and Punta della Dogana, Triennale Milano, and Palazzo Strozzi, will also curate the 9th Gherdëina Biennale, which will open its doors on May 31, 2024. In his speech, Lorenzo Giusti will introduce GAMeC in a variety of its facets from past to future, while also giving insights about the Gherdëina Biennale

PAST EVENT

Pinault Collection in Venice: A Brief History

Friday, November 24, 2023, 19.00

Venue: Istanbul Modern Auditorium

Mauro Baronchelli

Operative Director

Palazzo Grassi and Punta della Dogana

The Punta della Dogana, which opened its doors in 2009 following the Pallazo Grassi in 2006, hosts the programs of Pinault Collection in Venice. With the addition of the Bourse de Commerce, which opened in Paris in 2021, the dream of bringing Pinault Collection to more art enthusiasts is turning into reality. Pinault Collection, which has been growing for about fifty years, consists of nearly ten thousand artworks, and is one of the most important collections of contemporary art in the world. Since 2013, programs at the Teatrino di Palazzo Grassi, also in Venice, have supported the collection’s goal of being active in Venice throughout the year.

Built in the second half of the 18th century as a residence, the Palazzo Grassi is located on the edge of the Grand Canal, while the Punta della Dogana, constructed in the 17th century and serving as Venice's customs house, is located at the intersection of the Grand Canal and the Guidecca Canal. The restoration of these two buildings, together with the Teatrino di Palazzo Grassi, was led by Tadao Ando, who was awarded the Pritzker Prize in 1995. The exhibition spaces designed by Ando, with the interventions made by the architect revealing their original architecture and transformations, bring the buildings to the present day, and make visible the various layers of history.

Operative director, Mauro Baronchelli will introduce the Palazzo Grassi and Punta della Dogana in Venice, which have taken an important place on the atlas of contemporary art thanks to the prestigious Venice Biennale. Baronchelli, who has previously contributed to the municipality’s cultural policy department in Bergamo, Italy, where he worked on several projects and activities, also focused on youth access to the arts throughout his career. He also worked on the reopening of the Accademia Carrara, which was closed for renovation between 2008 and 2015. In his talk, Mauro Baronchelli will give information about the exhibitions held at the Palazzo Grassi and Punta della Dogana, the operations of the institution, and their future plans.

Museums today: Castello di Rivoli a case study

Friday, October 6, 2023, 19.00

Venue: Istanbul Modern Auditorium

Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev

Director

Castello di Rivoli Museo d’Arte Contemporanea

Witnessing history from the Middle Ages to the present day due to its premises, Castello di Rivoli Museo d’Arte Contemporanea opened in 1984 as Italy’s first contemporary art museum after an extensive restoration project. Located in Rivoli, right outside Turin—the capital of the Piemonte Region in Northwestern Italy—the museum complex is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Housed in the Savoy Dynasty’s palace, in addition to its exhibitions and programs, the museum focuses on current transformations and allows interaction with the past through pioneering research.

Including important artworks from the Arte Povera art movement, which means “poor art” in Italian, Castello di Rivoli describes art and culture as crucial tools for understanding today and today’s contexts. In parallel, participatory activities organized with the contributions of various-scaled collaborators position art as one of the most important aspects in the development of society. Concepts such as creativity, research, education, and cultural progress help to develop the museum’s collection and framework for exhibitions making it possible to make connections between local, regional, and global narratives.

Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev (Ridgewood, New Jersey), who also curated the 14th Istanbul Biennial in 2015 entitled “SALTWATER”, started her first position at Castello di Rivoli in 2002 as the chief curator. In 2008 she left Castello di Rivoli to curate the 16th Biennial of Sydney in Australia, and returned to the museum as interim director in 2009 prior to directing dOCUMENTA (13) which opened in 2012. In 2016, she became the director of Castello di Rivoli. Christov-Bakargiev, the 2015 recipient of the Culture Prize awarded by the German state of Hesse to outstanding figures in the fields of art, science, and cultural exchange, organized exhibitions and programs at globally acclaimed institutions such as Villa Medici in Rome and MoMA PS1 in New York, and published publications focusing on artists and art movements.

Photographs:
GAMeC - Giulio Boem 
Lorenzo Giusti - Antonio Maniscalco 

Exhibition view:
Ali Cherri: Dreamless Night

Render:
C + S Architects