The Terna 01 Award is on display in the most beautiful squares of Rome: from December 23, 2008 to January 1, 2009, as part of the event “Roma Città Natale”, the 101 finalist artworks of the competition, together with those by 24 famous artists that participated in the Terawatt category, will be “exhibited” with high-tech luminous projections in Rome’s historical center.

Following the exhibition, scheduled from November 27-30 at the Palazzo delle Esposizioni, the artists of the Terna Award will be the protagonists of an important virtual exhibit that for ten days will transform the Piazza del Campidoglio, piazza Colonna and Piazza della Minerva into an outdoor museum open to over 3 million people living in the city and to tourists present during the holiday period.

Every day, from 7 pm to 10 pm the artworks will be displayed in an exhibit that will take place from Piazza del Campidoglio, where the façade of the Palazzo dei Conservatori will host the finalists of the Gigawatt category (artists under 35), to Piazza Colonna where the artworks of the already known artists will be projected onto the Palazzo Wedekind (Terawatt category) to end on the Senate Library in Piazza della Minerva with the finalists from the Megawatt category (over 35). To ring in the new year, on December 31, the projections in Piazza colonna will continue until the early morning hours.

In all the squares it will be possible to admire the winners of the Terna Award:
”Electricthron” by Luigi Ontani for the Terawatt category, “Pannello spaccato con testa di Nietzsche” by Francesco Arena for the Gigawatt category, ”Kali yuga 57” by Andrea Chiesi for the Megawatt category, “I giorni del silenzio - devozioni ix - i\" of Hotel de la Lune, winner of the online Award, chosen by popular voting on the website www.premioterna.it out of more than 3,100 artworks that participated from all the regions of Italy.

Together with these works, all the artworks of the famous artists that participated in the competition will also be displayed: Olivo Barbieri, Gabriele Basilico, Paolo Canevari, Bruno Ceccobelli, Enzo Cucchi, Alberto Di Fabio, Chiara Dynys, Flavio Favelli, Renato Mambor, Carlo Maria Mariani, Eva Marisaldi, Gino Marotta, Masbedo, Dino Pedriali, Achille Perilli, Perino e Vele, Alfredo Pirri, Vettor Pisani, Fabrizio Plessi, Carol Rama, Sissi, Marco Tirelli, Massimo Vitali – as well as those by the finalists of the Megawatt and Gigawatt categories.

With the “light show” in the three Roman squares, the first edition of the Terna 01 Award comes into direct contact with the public with the objective of joining the artists with the city and the citizens with contemporary art.

The need for a closer connection between art and the community was highlighted by the ISPO research conducted on Terna’s behalf, on the “Artist’s Profile”: 93% of the artists interviewed believed that an artwork should not only be exhibited in museums and galleries, but also in as many possible public places.

The initiative falls within the project “Roma Città Natale” organized by the Council for Culture of the City of Rome headed by Umberto Croppi: the capital city becomes the protagonist of international art, music and literature events as well as Christmas traditions.

www.premioterna.it

Press Office Novella Mirri e Maria Bonmassar
06/32652596; ufficiostampa@novellamirri.it

A celebrity audience for the awards ceremony of the first edition of the Terna Award for Contemporary Art. At the Palazzo delle Esposizioni in Rome, the Minister of Cultural Heritage Sandro Bondi and the Minister of Youth Giorgia Meloni, with Chairman Luigi Roth and CEO Flavio Cattaneo, awarded the prizes to the winners of the three categories: Terawatt (for famous artists) Gigawatt (under 35) and Megawatt (over 35). The ceremony took place in the exhibition hall, an exhibition that was open from November 27-30 and that hosted thirty nine artworks: the 16 winners and the 23 famous artists that participated in the first edition of the Terna Award on the theme:
“Transmitting energy: a contemporary metaphor”… Many representatives from the institutions, from the worlds of culture, economy and contemporary art such as gallery owners and collectors from all over Italy attended the exhibit.
“It had been many years since the Italian companies expressed interest for culture. A country that does not take a chance, that does not invest in culture is a country with no future. These were the words of the Minister for Cultural Heritage and Activities, Sandro Bondi, during the awards ceremony.
“I believe that a company like ours that has such a strong impact on the territory should in some way return to those living in the country something in terms of value and there is no better way to do so than through art and culture”. Terna’s CEO continued: “Ours is a young company that wishes to offer an opportunity to young artists through a competition open to all, both famous and not”. Chairman Roth recalled that “Terna’s mission –transmitting energy- was the source of inspiration for all the artists. Wide recognition must therefore be given to such an ambitious project that succeeded in creating a network of creativity with the fundamental contribution of over 3,000 works: a richness for art and for the community”. A modern award also through an online art gallery that allowed talented young Italian artists to emerge, affirmed the Minister of Youth, Giorgia Meloni, who awarded Francesco Arena, winner of the Gigawatt category, reserved to artists under 35 year of age, and also stated her commitment for supporting creativity and courage among young artists since they are capable of establishing positive emulation while also contributing to the nation’s cultural and social progress”.
The visual impact of the artworks was also appreciated during these months through PC screens on the website www.premioterna.it The protagonists of the event where the winners of the three categories and of the online award: Luigi Ontani, Francesco Arena, Andrea Chiesi and Hotel de la Lune, surrounded by reporters. The young artists were visibly moved, as were the older ones, since the Award allowed them to display their works together with the ones of the “big” Italian contemporary artists. All the winner works of the Gigawatt and Megawatt categories will be purchased by Terna and will become part of the company’s contemporary art collection.
The first prize of the value of 100 thousand euros, reserved to the winner of the Terawatt category, will be entirely devolved to building the documentation center of the MAXXI museum, the future National Museum of the Arts of the 21st century.

Thirty nine contemporary art works will be exhibited during a single event from November 27-30 at the Palazzo delle Esposizioni in Rome. These are the 15 artworks winners of the first edition of the Terna Award for Contemporary Art and the 24 works of the famous artists that participated in the event. For the first time, emerging artists, both young and older ones, to which the Megawatt and Giagawatt categories were respectively reserved, will display their works next to those created by the “big” Italian contemporary artists that participated in the Award in the category open only by invitation, the Terawatt category.

The protagonists of the exhibition were above all the winners of the three categories selected by the Jury of the Terna Award among the 124 finalists out of 3,158 participating art works:
Luigi Ontani, Terawatt category with “Electricthrone”; Francesco Arena, (Brindisi) with “Pannello spaccato con testa di Nietzsche”, Gigawatt category (under 35) and Andrea Chiesi (Modena) with the art work ”Kali yuga 57”,  Megawatt category. The work  “I giorni del silenzio - devozioni ix - i" by Hotel de la Lune, winner of the Online Award (popular voting on the website www.premioterna.it ) was also displayed. Along with the winners, the artworks of the winners of the other categories can also be admired.

For the Gigawatt category: Giovanni Ozzola (Florence), Elena Baldelli (Savona), Gabriele Giugni (Rome), Riccardo Albanese (Battipaglia, Salerno), Davide Eron Salvadei (Rimini), Gabriele Bonato (Palmanova, Udine).  For the Megawatt category: Laura Cantarella (Turino), Rocco Dubbini (Ancona), Davide Bertocchi (Modena), Raffaella Mariniello (Naples), Antonio Riello (Treviso), Giovanni Albanese (Bari).

The 15 winning works were selected by the Jury chaired by Luigi Roth and Flavio Cattaneo and formed by Gianluca Marziani, Francesco Cascino, Alberto Alessi, Davide Blei, Silvia Evangelisti, Giovanni Giuliani, Gianfranco Maraniello, Cristiana Perrella, Thaddaeus Ropac, Paolo Sorrentino, Beatrice Trussardi, Julian Zugazagoitia.

All the art works of the Terawatt category will be displayed at the Palazzo delle Esposizioni:
Olivo Barbieri, Gabriele Basilico, Paolo Canevari, Bruno Ceccobelli, Enzo Cucchi, Alberto Di Fabio, Chiara Dynys, Flavio Favelli, Renato Mambor, Carlo Maria Mariani, Eva Marisaldi, Gino Marotta, Masbedo, Dino Pedriali, Achille Perilli, Perino e Vele, Alfredo Pirri, Vettor Pisani, Fabrizio Plessi, Carol Rama, Sissi, Marco Tirelli, Massimo Vitali.

The first prize for the value of 100 thousand euros, reserved to the winner of the Terawatt category, will be entirely devolved, in agreement with the artist, to building the documentation center of the MAXXI, the future Museum of the National Arts of the 21st Century, also in agreement with the three year Memorandum of Understanding between Terna and the Minister for Cultural Heritage and Activities aimed at promoting and enhancing contemporary art in Italy.

All the winning artworks in the Gigawatt, Megawatt and Online categories will be purchased by Terna and will become part of the company’s contemporary art collection.

Rome, November 2008

Press Office
Novella Mirri e Maria Bonmassar
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First of all, I would like to thank more than 3000 artists who participated in the Terna Award that ended on October 30. Their works transmit energy to the country, particularly at a difficult economic and financial moment, and to the entire cultural project, determining a strong basis for the initiative’s success; we shared this initiative, as of July 2, with Minister Bondi and all those involved in it at the Ministries for Cultural Heritage and Activities, for Youth and for the Economic Development, with gallery owners and with representatives from the art world that have supported and encouraged us.

Together with Chairman Roth, the Committee of Honor, the entire Jury, Giovanni Buttitta, his team and the two Curators Francesco Cascino and Gianluca Marziani, we could have never imagined such a wide participation. Emerging artists from all over Italy, men, women, both young and older and internationally acclaimed artists enthusiastically accepted the challenge of Terna’s project, a cultural project based on communicating and supporting contemporary art and Italian artists.

For a company such as Terna, which strongly impacts the territory, restoring value to society represents an ethical and socially responsible choice. Culture, particularly visual arts, is a sign of attention to both the community and the country, in those areas where the company implements and develops the large energy infrastructures that are useful for the entire community.

Our project was created on three precise ideas: restoring value to the community; launching a virtuous opportunity for having artists emerge, particularly young ones; strengthening a new approach of the “public art” concept, capable of being alive and fruitful both in designated areas such as museums and exhibition areas, and among a vast and diverse public. The Terna Award, in fact, was created as a structural initiative for creating a network of creative energy of all Italian contemporary artists, for interconnecting the art system with that of the entrepreneurial world; to blend entrepreneurial dynamics with those of the art sector having the objective of creating a system and favoring the society’s involvement.

The unexpected participation of famous artists represents the best evidence that they shared our intentions and accepted the challenge of joining together with others that are not as known, of feeling the same creative and express needs.

Our sincere thanks goes to famous artists with significant exhibition experience: Gabriele Basilico, Olivo Barbieri, Enzo Cucchi, Bruno Ceccobelli, Paolo Canevari, Chiara Dynys, Alberto Di Fabio, Flavio Favelli, Renato Mambor, Carlo Maria Mariani, Eva Marisaldi, Masbedo, Gino Marotta, Luigi Ontani, Dino Pedriali, Achille Perilli, Perino e Vele, Alfredo Pirri, Vettor Pisani, Fabrizio Plessi, Carol Rama, Sissi, Marco Tirelli, Massimo Vitali.

These artists were able to intelligently and bravely meet the innovative challenge posed by the Terna Award and represented a “guiding light” for all the artists, both young and older.

This first outstanding result of such wide participation can help reflecting on the relationship between art, companies and the institutions in our country .We believe in the goodness of a choice that doesn’t only wish to focus on emerging artists, but also strengthen the link between all artists, the institutions and the market.

In once again thanking all those that participated, I would like to remind everyone of the next events: the online voting will take place from November 3-11 on the website www.premioterna.it; the winners will be announced on November 13 an the exhibition will be inaugurated on November 26 at the Palazzo delle Esposizioni in Rome.

Research conducted on the identity, contradictions, dreams and hopes of the Italian artists.

“Artist’s profile”: dreams and hopes between public and private

The results of the ISPO research on identifying the artist today

Turin, November 9, 2008 – 65% of artists cannot earn a living by being only artists, 75% have a conflicting relationship with gallery owners, 86% believe that contemporary art should be supported both by the government and by private enterprises. These are some of the results that emerged from the first research conducted on the Artist’s profile by the ISPO, Research Institute on the Public Opinion, on behalf of Terna, on a sample of artists participating in the Terna 01 Award, representative of the Italian art world, presented today in Turin during ARTISSIMA.

The first structured sociological and statistical research on the contemporary artist’s profile in Italy defines contradictions, hopes and dreams of the Italian creative world based on the desire for becoming affirmed and visible, private desires and a search for support from the Institutions and private bodies.

Quite significant was the data that emerged of the artists on the complex contemporary art market in Italy: results that are definitely polarized. Half of the artists, 48% believe that the present Italian art market is experiencing a crisis. The other half, instead, believe that the market is in “good health”. Suggestions for improving the situation are topped by the request for greater support on the part of the institutions (71%) followed by stronger and more structured international relations among the operators (66%), greater involvement of private enterprises and sharing large projects among artists. Similarly to other sectors which, while being quite different, are also experiencing difficult times, the world of artists expresses a strong need for public support; 79% of those interviewed feel they should receive state subsidies, just as in other sectors such as film and theater. While only one third of Italians (34%) believe that contemporary art should be supported both by the government and by private companies, the percentage rises to 86% among artists. A general difficulty from the economic point of view is confirmed by the data that highlights how only 32% of artists declare their work is enough for them to make a living, while 68% must hold second jobs.

This data has also led to the emergence of a contradictory relationship with gallery owners: on the one hand, 71% consider them essential, while 75% of those interviewed believes that gallery owners “take advantage” of the artist. The request for greater support from the organized structures is countered by the conflicting management of relations with the galleries. The data also revealed other interesting information regarding the work of the artist: 64% measure their success on the degree of personal satisfaction they receive from their work. Only a 20% minority identifies reaching success when they are appreciated by art critics. 11% do not feel they have “made it” only for “financial” reasons. Contradictory elements emerged: if on one hand the creative force represents the motivating factor and the financial aspect becomes secondary, on the other hand the majority of artists feels that the support from a third party, also economic, is fundamental for carrying out their work. Nearly all of the artists (93%) already displayed their works at an exhibit, but 76% feel that it is more difficult to sell them in Italy than it is abroad. With regard to displaying art, 93% of the artists believe that an art work should be exhibited in all possible public places, in addition to museums, galleries, etc.

62% of those interviewed by the panel believe that art awards and competitions are the only medium available to young artists for breaking through: this represented the main reason for participating in the Terna Award, followed by being in tune with the theme of energy transmission (37%) and by the “democratic” criteria for accessing the competition (27%). Criteria that were “awarded” by the extraordinary result of the online voting that only during the first day registered over 30 thousand voters for a total of over 120 thousand visitors.

The results of the extensive research was illustrated by Prof. Mannheimer during the presentation to the press of the 124 finalists of the Terna 01 Award.

The first phase of the Award created by Terna, the company that owns and manages the high voltage electricity grid in Italy, whose curators were Gianluca Marziani and Francesco Cascino, ended on October 30.

The participation was outstanding: 3,158 artworks enrolled on the website www.premioterna.it in the three categories- Terawatt (upon invitation only for famous artists), Megawatt (over 35), Gigawatt (under 35) that involved both well known and emerging artists creating a circuit of creativity and young talents as well as promoting the artist’s role as the driving force in developing and discovering new creative expression. All the artists, 58% men and 42% women- equally distributed from all over Italy: North 36%, South 33,6%, Central 30,4%, were inspired on the theme of “Transmitting energy: a contemporary metaphor”. The Megawatt category was the most represented with a percentage of 55.3%, the second one was the Gigawatt with 44.7%

Mario Golinelli, Knight of Labor, entrepreneur, founder of a leading chemical company, among the most well known contemporary art collectors in the world, indefatigable cultural promoter, once again at work with another exciting project: the Foundation for Art and Science. What is it?

“My ambition is to fight against scientific illiteracy and look to the future. Art science, in the province of Bologna, will be the first park in the world inspired by this theme: science will support creativity that will become the means for reaching out to young people bringing them closer to research.” Also thanks to the integration of contemporary art works it is possible to establish an important link between different types of knowledge. Art and science must not be elitist and in order to transform them it is important to open the minds of young people bringing them closer to research thanks to art, already at a very early age. The artist and the researcher, essentially, are both two creative minds.”

Contemporary art and science, an enlightened support project for joining your two great passions…

“Art has helped me to live and to understand. I use art, I believe it is at the “service” of mankind, a type of expression that must be accessible to all and not elitist. Art helps to achieve a better understanding, it is not only an aesthetic type of expression. For this reason, Art Science is the place where artists will work and express their ideas.

The Terna Award’s objectives includes joining entrepreneurial dynamics to those of the art world to “create a system” and favor the society’s involvement. Do you believe this is an attainable objective?

“The Terna Award is an exception in this scenario: it is essential to create a system. If I can make a suggestion, I think it is necessary now more than ever to aim at a more practical approach that goes beyond an exhibit, such as brining the contemporary artist into the schools: a great opportunity for artists to establish a direct relationship and interact with people. The artist can share their feelings and emotions, interact directly and absorb their vision of the world…just think how exciting it would have been to have talked with Raffaello or Caravaggio!”

Art favors the individual’s growth and his creativity, does it also favor entrepreneurship?

“Enterprises are part of an economic system with a planning idea. At the entrance of my company, there is a sculpture with four facets that represent the bases of the system. The first is man, the second is energy, the third economy, and the fourth, art. This is because the entrepreneur must first be a man of culture. He must know philosophy and science, sociology and mathematics, otherwise he would be unable to solve every day problems.

Does supporting contemporary art and making it accessible to all also mean helping the new generations to appreciate art?

“It is necessary to teach youth to understand the integration mechanism between Art and Science. Technological transformation and work flexibility, which in the next years will develop in at a very fast rate, will be met only by having a large mental aperture, thanks to an evolved way of facing all issues. Our mind is a like a computer filled with connections: young people must have the possibility of becoming more creative and of multiplying the connections. The citizen of the future must be able to do anything.”

Art contests also have the purpose of bringing talented young artists who have not yet emerged to the forefront. What is the difference between painting and art?

“The difference lies in the perception. Objective perception recomposes the work in an architectural way, the subjective one contains esoteric elements. Subjectivity broadens a concept: is the art work the one you see, or, are you the art work as you look at it?”

VISUAL ARTS ON THE ROOFS OF THE MINI CLUBMAN AT THE MINI LOUNGE OF THE ROME INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL

Terna Award: with only five days to the closing date, already 1,600 artworks online at www.premioterna.it

Rome, October 24, 2008 – Terna participates in the 3rd edition of the Rome International Film Festival with a “live performing art” evening linked to the Terna 01 Award.

The event will take place on Saturday, October 25th at 9.30 pm at the Rome Auditorium for TERNAIT, the event on invitation organized by the company that owns and manages the National Electricity Grid. During the evening, three affirmed Roman street artists will perform live by painting the roofs of three Mini Clubmans inspired by the theme “Transmitting energy: a contemporary metaphor”, the award’s guideline that through three different categories aims at involving both famous and new artists, creating an opportunity for the expression and emergence of young talents and for promoting the role of artists, as a developing force and search for new creativity.

During TERNAIT, three artworks will also be created by three young artists that express themselves through Pop language: Francesco Melone, Veronica Montanino and Matteo Peretti. The three performers will use the roofs of the MINI Clubman as their creative surface blending their style with the new dynamics of shape, inventing forms that will expand into urban space.

The artworks will be published on the website www.premioterna.it and will participate in the Award for contemporary art launched by Terna, an important project for supporting art and culture in Italy. As of today, over 1,600 artists have registered their works in the competition and everyone can vote from November 3-11 on the dedicated website.

From November 5-9, the three artworks will be exhibited in the former Gil at Largo Ascianghi 5, Rome, as part of the exhibit “The City’s Future: the environment. Giving value to water” that already includes all the projects of the MINI Design Award 2008.

The artists:

FRANCESCO MELONE’s inspiring theme is based on human relations, interpersonal and family relations highlighting in their various cycles the ambiguous and complex nature of life. The language he uses has strong pop influences, an overview of the painting of the Sixties and the dry narrative style of figurative illustrations. He often uses photographic reproductions of the sixties reproducing through an analytical language an ideal world created specifically for children, but which re-emerges through an adult memory, leading the viewer to idealize a fictitious reality that has nothing to do with the present reality.
www.francescomelone.it

VERONICA MONTANINO combines opposing, yet mingling realities: figurative with the abstract, painting and sculpture, walls and the environment, empty and full. On one hand the artworks are part of the physiological borders of the painting, on the other, the invasion of mural spaces for creating structures where kinetic geometry fuses with various shapes of narrative vitality. The explosion of the backdrops mixes optical energy and pop culture. The monochromatic shapes stand out distinctly against the explosions, as a dynamic theatre that narrates daily life on an unusual stage. Plastic materials and compositional rigor across a journey made of subjective stories and geometrical explosion.
www.veronicamontanino.com

MATTEO PERETTI is an indefatigable inventor of stories that become paintings, sculptures, installations.
Since the beginning, he uses household items, toys, clothing, furnishings, domestic objects and recycled items to create his ironic works with focused messages. At the same time, with colors, lines, intertwining and plausible geometry he creates paintings made of only bags, post-informal elements reminiscent of Burri, inspired by the dynamic vitality of pop art. Painting with shopping fever, but with the awareness of consumerist limitations, of an eco-compatible culture where the artist takes a moral stand through the structure of his own aesthetics.
www.studiogiga.com

ROMA – ART WEEKEND / October 10 – 12, 2008

Waiting for the second edition of Roma – The Road to Contemporary Art (April 2-5, 2009) The contemporary art galleries in Rome will stay open until 12 am on October 10 and 11. Following the success of Freaky Friday held last February 29, the organization of the Exhibit Roma-The Road to Contemporary Art, in collaboration with the Council for Cultural Policies and Communication of the City of Rome and the Superintendence for Cultural Heritage proposes a new initiative devoted to contemporary art: ROMA – ART WEEKEND from October 10-12, 2008. The event is co-produced by the Rome Chamber of Commerce and by the Rome Contemporary Association, with Terna’s support.

ROMA – ART WEEKEND will be a fair to celebrate contemporary art in Rome. An event during which over 80 galleries and different areas of the city will stay open on Friday, October 10 and Saturday, October 11 until midnight, with openings, cocktails, meetings with the artists and performances to be held in the galleries.

ROMA – ART WEEKEND will be an opportunity to remind art enthusiasts, collectors and all those working in the art sector that Rome is always focused on contemporary art and continuously offers new opportunities. The Councilor for Cultural Policies and Communication of the City of Rome, Umberto Croppi expressed its willingness to take action for relaunching contemporary art in the city, particularly for ROMA ART WEEKEND, stating that “with the Roma Art Weekend event, for two nights the capital will be transformed into a circuit of ideas and images in which a public of experts, collectors and neophytes will participate. Many different locations, galleries, and museums will open their doors to satisfy the curiosity and knowledge of visitors. The Councilor for Cultural Policies and Communication of Rome has supported this initiative convinced that the capital can finally became the city of creativity, a permanent laboratory and experimental site where contemporary art is called to place its first original mark”.

Roberto Casiraghi, director and creator of The Road to Contemporary Art and of Roma Art Weekend adds, “This is an event we wanted because we truly believe that cooperation between the new fair and the galleries of the city represent the road for having Rome become the capital of contemporary art. We feel it is important to invest today for the future which we hope will become constant in the agenda of all contemporary art lovers in Italy and abroad.”

The event is organized with Terna’s support, the company that owns and manages the National Electricity Grid. The collaboration is no coincidence: this year the company launched the first edition of the Terna Award for contemporary art, a project for supporting art and its protagonists. Zètema Progetto Cultura will guarantee the extraordinary opening of various museums.

Friday the 10th and October the 11th, The Museum of Rome in Trastevere (with the exhibit “Lisette Model and her school. Photographs 1937-2002), the Museum of the Ara Pacis (that will host the anthology “Bruno Munari”), the Carlo Bilotti Museum (where the exhibit “The Big Bang” is being held) and the MACRO on Via Reggio Emilia (with the project that Ernesto Neto organized specifically for the MACRO HALL, a large exhibition area that occupies the glassed in gallery of the Museum) will extend their opening hours until midnight . Moreover, on Friday, October 10th from 3:30 pm to 6:30 pm the extraordinary opening and free guided visits at the MACRO located on Via Reggio Emilia 54 will take place (only by reservation at 060608, maximum 15 people per group). A free shuttle service will be running from 4:30 pm to 3 am on October 10th and 11th connecting various parts of the city where the galleries, museums and other institutions participating in the event are located. A way for encouraging the public’s participation in the event’s two evenings

Milan, October 14, 2008. Young Blood 2007 was presented today in Milan at the Triennale, the first edition of young Italian talents that have stood out in the field of creativity.

The volume, edited by Iron Productions and created with Terna’s support, includes the portraits of all the Italian artists that throughout the world have received an award or honorable mention in the field of art and culture.

Young Blood is a yearly catalogue that spotlights all the Italian talents that have stood out in the various fields of creativity, presenting the generation of new promising artists Made in Italy, providing a useful guide for all those that work in the field of communications and cultural productions.

The collaboration between Iron Production and Terna is no coincidence. The company that owns and manages the national electricity grid launched this year the first edition of the Terna Award for contemporary art, an important project for supporting art and its protagonists.

The Terna 01 Award was open to all artists, both famous and emerging that were invited within October 30, 2008 to express their creativity through a theme: “Transmitting energy: a contemporary metaphor”. The theme was inspired by Terna’s values and activities, i.e. managing 24 hours a day, the national electricity transmission and meeting the country’s electricity demand. The Award proposes a close collaboration between enterprises and culture, a new and original avant-guard patronage of the arts aimed at cooperation between artistic research, the world of economics and society. Only three months after the competition was opened and two weeks prior to its closing, over 1000 artists are participating in the award with their works (painting, light box photographs).

Hardly three months following the launching of the Terna Award for contemporary art and two weeks prior to the closing of the competition, over 1000 artworks registered.

Of these, 358 (equal to 36%) are participating in the competition for the Gigawatt category (artists under 35 years of age) and 642 (equal to 64%) for the Megawatt category (artists over 35). The regions with the greatest participation are Lazio, 15% of the participants, followed by Campania (13.5%) and Lombardy (11%). The techniques that are most used are the mixed ones, oils on canvas and photography.

The 1000th artwork is a digital photograph on print entitled “Folgorato sulla via di Damasco” (Struck along the way to Damascus) and will compete in the Gigawatt category.

The first artists for the Terawatt category, exclusively upon invitation and reserved to well known contemporary artists, also started submitting their works. These artists include: Fabrizio Plessi, Massimo Vitali, Olivo Barbieri, Paolo Canevari, Chiara Dynys, Bruno Ceccobelli and Alberto DiFabio.

Over 700 artworks participating after three months the competition was launched

Terna Spa created the first edition of the Terna 01 Award, an important Italian project aimed at promoting artists and contemporary art. Only three months after the competition was launched, over 700 artists from all over Italy are participating with their works.

During the inauguration of the exhibit “Ventre” by Antonello Bulgini” at the Trip in Naples, held on October 1 at 6 pm, the Terna 01 Award was presented in Naples to the public addressing all artists, both famous and new, that were invited to express their creativity within October 30, 2008, through a theme: “Transmitting energy: a contemporary metaphor”. The theme was inspired on Terna’s values and activities, the company that manages the national electricity transmission 24 hours a day, meeting the electricity demands of the country. The Award’s theme proposes a strong unity between enterprises and culture, a new avant-guard patronage of the arts aimed at cooperation between artistic research, the world of economics and the social context.

Out of the 700 participating artists, over 13% came from the Campania region, which together with the Lazio region with 14% were the regions that contributed most significantly with their works. The following artists are participating from Naples: Ernani Utech, Alfredo Avagliano, Giuseppe Panariello, Umberto Cesino, Ernesto Schiano, Roberto Sanchez, Giovanni Buccino, Loredana Avolio, Giuseppe Scarfiglieri, Flavio Di Bennardo, Romoletta Nardi, Girolamo Langella, Rosalia Tortorelli, Fabrizio Attianese, Vincenzo Distinto, Roberto Di Bianco, Brunella D’Auria, Paolo Apuleo, Gaetano Viglietti, Giacomo Montanaro, Francesca Belmonte, Monivìca Liguoro, Pietro Chiariello, Leonardo Amendola, Luigi Esposito, Saverio Francesco Galdo, Mauro Rescigno, Marco Matta, Stefania Sabatino, Francesco Saverio Casertano, Ivan Galloro, Angelo Volpe, Davide Stasino, Daniela Politelli, and Agnese Claudia Masucci.

From Salerno: Denise Amaturo, Lorenzo Basile, Adalgisa De Angelis, Sergio Di Martino, Lucio Ippoliti, Gerardo Marzullo, Salvatore Orza, Vincenzo Papa, Giuseppe Rampolla, Matilde Salerno, Girolamo Santulli, Aniello Scannapieco, Alessandro Vangone, Alessandro Vangone and Rosario Viscido. From Avellino Ginaluca Capozzi, Saverio Cecere, Luigi Di Guglielmo, Marcaurelio Iacolino, Pietro Montone, Elena Petrizzi, Generoso Spagnulo and Bruno Sullo.

From Benevento Mario Ferraro, Tullio Forgione, Massimo Iadarola, Paolina Pagnozzi, Antonio Presutti and Mennato Tedesco. From Caserta: Angela Caporaso, Margherita Fascione, Michele Letizia, Rocca Maffia and Anna Maria Saviano.

Born between 1946 and 1991, the artists participating from the Campania region include at least four generations and fully use the possibility of expressing themselves in the most diverse creative techniques that the Award offered, from digital photography to web graphics, from oil to acrylic, from mixed techniques to light box, from algorithmic art to computer generated art, from graphite to traditional photography.

The total award amount of 150 thousand euros is distributed for the three categories:
Terawatt, upon invitation for national and international famous artists, Gigawatt and Megawatt, open to all artists under and over 35, respectively. An Online Award was also created: open to all for selecting one’s preference through the website www.premioterna.it. All the works participating in the three categories will also participate in this award that will be assigned on the basis of popular voting. The web voting is aimed at favoring the public’s involvement, strengthening the link between artistic language and the society’s visual appreciation capabilities.

Over 6,500 visitors for the Terna Award’s website at www.premioterna.it in only one week, for a total of over 37,000 pages visited.

Every user spent an average of 5 minutes visiting the website, viewing approximately 6 pages each.

With regard to the access to the website www.premioterna.it, 30% was through direct access, while the remaining percentage was through the link published through the principal research engines and art portals. Only one week following the opening of the competition, 55 art works have already registered 20 of which in the Gigawatt category, artists under 35 years of age, and 35 in the Megawatt category, artists over 35. The majority of the techniques used up to now are oils, mixed techniques and digital photography.

“The Terna Award for Contemporary Art represents an important example for all entrepreneurs and private Italian companies that already invest in culture, but that can do even more to support contemporary art”, stated the Minister for Cultural Heritage and Activities Sandro Bondi attending the presentation of the first edition of the competition devoted to supporting and promoting contemporary art that was organized by Terna.

With regard to art, Minister Bondi added: “I am convinced that Italy is experiencing a new phase: a new awareness of the artist’s role in our country’s development”.

A belief that was confirmed by the data collected by the ISPO survey on the relationship between Italians and contemporary art, presented by Renato Mannheimer together with the opening of the Terna Award. According to the survey, nearly 9 million people in Italy are interested in contemporary art and about 5 would like to buy an art work. For 71% of the population, moreover, art and artists must be considered the country’s cultural heritage and for 34% the sector must be supported by both the government and private companies. Over 14 million people attend art shows and exhibits.

Terna’s CEO Flavio Cattaneo considers these numbers as being very positive and commented:

“Keeping in line with the art theme, according to the survey that was presented, we can certainly say that Italians are better than the way they are depicted”

THE TERNA 01 AWARD IS CREATED

New energy for Contemporary Art: “An entrepreneurial response” The Italians have a desire for Contemporary Art: ISPO research on the perception of art in Italy.

On Tuesday, July 1, 2008 at 11.30 am, at the MAXXI, National Museum of the Arts of the 21st century, Terna presented the first edition of the Terna Award, an important Italian project aimed at promoting artists and contemporary art. “Transmitting energy: a contemporary metaphor”: this is the theme on which artists are invited within October 30, 2008 to express their creativity. The theme is inspired on Terna’s values and activities: the company manages, 24 hours a day, the national electricity transmission, meeting the country’s electricity demands.

The press conference opened with an address by Pio Baldi, General Director of the MAXXI Foundation project and was attended by Luigi Roth, Terna’s Chairman, Flavio Cattaneo, Terna’s CEO, Renato Mannheimer, ISPO President – Institute for Studies on the Public Opinion and Francesco Maria Giro, Undersecretary for Cultural Heritage. Also present were the curators of the Award, Gianluca Marziani and Francesco Cascino. The Minister for Cultural Heritage and Activities, Sandro Bondi, gave the closing address.

Energy, also of art, is everywhere, multi-form and inexhaustible. Contemporary art is establishing itself internationally as a point of reference for the market, media and companies. 9 million people are interested in contemporary art and 5 million would like to buy an artwork.. The sector primarily attracts young people and the growth potential is enormous.

34% of Italians believes that the sector should be supported both by the government and private companies. This is what emerged from the survey conducted by the ISPO on Terna’s behalf, aimed at investigating the perception Italians have of art, particularly contemporary art.

The Terna Award, a unique event within the national cultural scenario, creates a network with the energy of famous and new artists that can express themselves through painting, photography, elaborations and light-box: an “entrepreneurial response” to the enormous cultural creative potential, for the wide participation of the artists in our country. The contest is innovatively divided into three categories and creates a circuit of exchange for new talents, establishing a strong interconnection between the art and entrepreneurial worlds, the artists and all the Italian sectors. Terna invites the artists, as professionals, to become the developing force of the two “systems” through exploring original and innovative solutions. The launch of the award will appropriately be held at the MAXXI, the future National Museum of the Arts of the 21st century, which is presently being built and which will be the symbol for innovation and the new role to be played by contemporary art in today’s society.

The awards, totaling 150 thousand euros, will be distributed to the three competing categories:
Terawatt, artists of national and international fame and Gigawatt and Megawatt, emerging artists, respectively over and under 35. The role played by the well known artists invited to the Terawatt category will be fundamental, the cultural and creative foundations of the initiative. The artists of the over and under 35 categories will be part of a circuit of emerging talents and transmission of new creativity.

The Online award: an innovative idea, open to all for selecting one’s preference through the website www.premioterna.it All the artworks registered in the three categories will participate in this award that will be assigned on the basis of popular voting. The web vote is aimed at directly involving the public, strengthening artistic language and the society’s visual awareness capabilities.

In agreement with the Ministry for Cultural Heritage and Activities, the competition will also support a social initiative as part of a cultural and artistic initiative by devolving the prize assigned to the winner of the Terawatt category, reserved to famous artists, which will become the protagonists together with Terna of the ambitious project for the enhancement of Italian art and culture.

The Committtee of Honor of the Terna Award will be chaired by the Ministry for Cultural Heritage and Activities, Sandro Bondi, and formed by illustrious government, cultural and entrepreneurial representatives: Domenico De Masi, University Professor and President of the Ravello Foundation, Massimiliano Fuksas, well-known architect; Emma Marcegaglia, President of Confindustria and Fernanda Pivano, internationally famous writer and essayist.

A Jury with important representatives from the cultural, artistic and economic worlds chaired by Luigi Roth and Flavio Cattaneo will evaluate the participating artworks: Alberto Alessi, entrepreneur in the design world, Davide Blei, Advisor for Contemporanea- Associazione Collezionisti Milano; Silvia Evangelisti, Artistic Director of the Art Fair of Bologna; Giovanni Giuliani, President of Macro Amici; Gianfranco Maraniello, Director of the MAMBO Museum in Bologna; Cristiana Perrella, Curator of the Contemporary Arts Programme of the British School of Rome; Thaddaeus Ropac, owner of galleries in Paris and Salzburg; Paolo Sorrentino, director of the new film generation, Beatrice Trussardi, President of the Nicola Trussardi Foundation; Julian Zugazagoitia, Director of the Barrio Museum in New York.

Rome, July 1, 2008