The Grand Tour d’Italie project, realised for the first time by the DGAAP and VIAFARINI, has come to a successful end. It was created to promote Italian artists to an international audience by organising meetings with curators from the most prestigious international institutions offering cultural exchange and artist-in-residence programmes. The project consists of a series of STUDIO VISITS, PORTFOLIO REVIEWS and VIDEO SCREENINGS (the latter open to the public). Events were hosted in Milan (c/o Viafarini DOCVA) and in Rome (in collaboration with the Qwatz artist-in-residence programme).
Grand Tour d’Italie proved to be an extraordinary occasion for Italian artists to present their work and for foreign curators to increase their understanding of the Italian art scene through direct contact with its leading figures and contexts.
The SELECTION OF ARTISTS, resulting from a survey of the most up-to-date research in the reading of the territory and the anthropological, social, political and economic changes taking place within it, identified 20 mid-career Italian artists: Nico Angiuli (Bari, 1981), Francesco Arena (Torre Santa Susanna BR, 1978), Riccardo Arena (Milan, 1979), Ludovica Carbotta (Turin, 1982), Beatrice Catanzaro (Milan, 1975), Leone Contini (Firenze, 1976), Luigi Coppola (Lecce, 1972), Cherimus (Perdaxius CI, 2007), Nicolò Degiorgis (Bolzano, 1985), Gianluca and Massimiliano De Serio (Turin, 1978), Chiara Fumai (Milan, 1978), Stefania Galegati Shines (Palermo, 1973), Riccardo Giacconi (San Severino Marche, MC 1985), Invernomuto (Milan, 2003), Claudia Losi (Piacenza, 1971), Marzia Migliora (Turin, 1972), Moira Ricci (Orbetello GR, 1977), Diego Tonus (Pordenone, 1984), Valentina Vetturi (Reggio Calabria, 1979) and Zimmerfrei (Bologna, 2000).
The selection of artists, studio visits and portfolio reviews were curated by Carolina Italiano (DGAAP) and Simone Frangi (Viafarini), starting in the Viafarini documentation centre, curated by Giulio Verago.
One particular tool of research was the portal www.italianarea.it, an online archive of artists selected through the activities of Viafarini.
In the fullest respect of its institutional objectives and with the aim of contributing to the growth of culture in Italy, this is the first time the DGAAP has created a project of this type, focused on the tangible promotion and valorisation of Italian artists. To achieve this, the DGAAP worked in collaboration with Viafarini, an organisation that has consistently operated to favour the professional growth of young artists and bring them to the attention of the contemporary art system, creating occasions for contact and expressions of interest from curators, critics and museums and promoting mobility. These are the final objectives of the Grand Tour d’Italie: supporting the socially engaged research of a group of artists from diverse regions of Italy, working in the country and abroad, and creating an important occasion to learn about and promote their work to an international audience.
Calendar of Events:
STUDIO VISIT (private sessions) Saturday 29 October – Wednesday 2 November 2016
PROIEZIONI VIDEO / Screening (open to the public) Saturday 29 and Sunday 30 October, 6:00 to 9:00 p.m. at Viafarini DOCVA at the Fabbrica del Vapore (via Procaccini 4, Milan).
Locations:
Milan, Viafarini DOCVA, Fabbrica del Vapore, Via Procaccini 4