Contemporary art in Rome under the spot light during the first of a series of meeting with Galleries organized by the Terna Prize 02. A crowd of nearly 150 people including art fans, members of the art world, artists, gallery directors and curators met yesterday at the Oredaria Gallery, the large exhibit area owned by Marina Covi Celli, for actively debating the topic "Artist’s Career. The state of the art between the public and private sectors".
The protagonist was contemporary art which according to a shared vision of the speakers – even though expressed through the most diverse opinions by Luigi Ontani internationally acclaimed artist, Pio Baldi president of the MAXXI Foundation in Rome, Luca Massimo Barbero Director of the MACRO in Rome, Luca Josi collector – must find the strength to reach out among people and become a central point of reference for Italian culture; in one word it must “attack” above all through a tighter collaboration between the public and private sectors creating an integrated networking system. This must also include applying entrepreneurial work dynamics and establish collaboration among companies, as for example Terna with the Contemporary Art Prize which is at its second edition.
Winner of the first edition of the Terna Prize and always brilliant in creating elegant metaphors and aphorisms, Luigi Ontani replied to the training of young artists by commenting "Career? The word makes me thing of a courier. The artist does not have the “obligation” to build a career." This represents a broader reflection on our country’s cultural condition: “everywhere I see a disdain for culture – this was Ontani’s grim comment who states he is politically detached – and this attitude leaves me shocked”. What to do then? Study, analyze and explore: everyone agrees with Covi Celli and Barbero: "little synergy between the public and private sectors and excessively fast communication that “minces all” and renders us very superficial”. The gallery director complains about the “strong dominance of foreign countries where products and commercial dynamics have been invented and in Italy, instead of analyzing and proposing a critical approach, we have followed these trends”. The Director of the MACRO commented, “We must go back to ‘looking’ in order to emerge from a general levelling off and stop doing things only for people to ‘recognize’ them ".
Within this context, what role do the cultural institutions play? Pio Baldi admitted that at the Ministry, particularly regarding Rome, “they often look back to our illustrious past” and underlined the importance of two strongholds of contemporary art such as the MAXXI and the MACRO; these museums will have to work in synergy to face the great challenge of strengthening Rome’s cultural offer also within a context of international cultural tourism. What could actually help an artist’s growth who intends to build his career not only on museums, both central and peripheral, but also on foundations, research centers and efficient companies investing in contemporary art? Francesco Cascino, art consultant and coordinator of meetings with Gallery directors, replied looking both to the East and to the West: With reference to the East, he referred to China where “the relationship between master and pupil represents a founding and millenary tradition based on respect and the value of transmitting experiences. " For the West: “Tax exemptions for donations and investments in the United States have been a strong support to contemporary art since the 1970’s”.
With regard to the foreign scenario: the experiences of the participants are diverse, but they all seem to agree on one point: the importance of Prizes for having new talents emerge. "They must once again be useful in creating a creative "guerrilla" - added Barbero provocatively, an exchange, a confrontation, a “contamination” among genres, ideas, proposals and suggestions”. Gianni Buttitta, based on Terna’s experience, recalled how much the Contemporary Art Prize contributed to shaking the art world since its first edition: “we are not the ones to say this - commented the head of Terna’s Communication- but this is confirmed by the number of participants, the richness of the artworks, the articles and press coverage. There is a large demand for focusing on contemporary art that is often unexpressed perhaps owing to laziness or a lack of time. We should all have a greater exchange of ideas and once again talk about projects that can give life to what often seem like dreams that will never come true. We have seen that this is possible and above all, that it also gives a great sense of satisfaction. "
2009-09-23
