“I have always thought that a structure linked to the territory should acts a go-between, spreading its characteristics into a more national and international context. Amaci is an important association that works to establish various different communication and collaboration channels. An excellent point of reference for exchange and growth”
How was collaboration established with AMACI and which prospects open up through this network?
We have always thought that creating a network would be a useful and essential type of strategy for growing and for gaining visibility. Monfalcone is a small town that is decentralized compared to the rest of the country, but is also located in the heart of a thick network of communication infrastructures. I felt it dutiful that a cultural institution cultivate this aspect. We were founded at the same time AMACI was and immediately this represented an important association we could rely on for establishing different communication and collaboration channels also with other museums. We quickly acted to be included in this network. In the Region we are the only structure of this kind. I thought this would be an excellent channel for exchange and growth. Within AMACI, we were a very young structure, but complimentary to other ones. The interesting fact is that all the structures of the association are different both juridically and culturally and therefore each one has different objectives. I believe this variety also reflects the wealth of proposals and of our Italian history and has always represented an important contribution.
The creation of an ambitious project such as a museum underlines the existence of many obstacles particularly in a reality like ours. Which have been and which are the principal difficulties it has encountered?
The major difficulties are mainly based on the territory we work in. Ours is a virgin territory where there is no precise cultural platform as a point of reference. There is no university or academy. Work has been and continues to be on the rise with the objective of attracting the greater public. The difficulties lie in creating a capillary structure and in defending ourselves from attacks launched by local mentalities that are also very childish. I, instead, have always thought that a structure linked to the territory must act as a go-between, spreading its characteristics, within a more national and international context. In our case, politics through the Region has supported many of our projects. The role played by politics, at least for what concerns our territory, is important because a precise need created from below does not exist which is focused on contemporary art.
Which projects are being worked on at the moment?
Our program is based on Format. In order to establish a connection and draw the public closer to us, we carry out various different projects that we update over time, both in our cultural objectives and in proposing new artists. The formats proposed include: “Report Italia”, an exhibit of video art produced in Italy in the last two years. “Forward-Rewind”, a video exhibit that ranges from the 1960’s to the present and which focuses on transversal dynamics such as utopia, religion and sex. Another format is “L’immagine Sottile” (The Thin Image), a tool through which the Gallery intends to involve the public in its project for creating a rich collection of artworks on paper by young national and international artists. All these projects have a common denominator: a strong pedagogic value bringing the public closer to the languages that people usually do not communicate in. The Terna Prize 02 intends to join the best company practices with cultural ones favoring a reflection on the planet’s need to responsibly look ahead focusing on environment and energy.
Do you think this objective is attainable and is art today still capable of favoring a greater critical awareness?
Art in itself promotes a point of view that is different compared to our criteria of judgment, our habitual vision. It attempts eliminating certain categories. Ideally, initiatives of this type are most welcome. It is obvious that there must also be an economic investment on a scientific project. Without any investments made by the private sector together with efforts to create an awareness, I don’t think the contemporary art system can grow in the future. I am of the idea that one must accept a challenge, if one simply looks out of the window without taking any action, that represents a defeat. An initiative such as the Terna Prize is extremely positive.
The Galleria Comunale d'Arte Contemporanea (GC. AC) di Monfalcone (City Contemporary Art Gallery in Monfalcone)
Inaugurated in June 2002, it is the product of the original restoration of the old indoor Fish Market and is characterized for its open structure formed by various rooms and for the extreme permeability of natural light sources that help create a multiple, fluid and versatile exhibition space resembling more a kunsthalle than a museum. The concept of a permanent laboratory that is sensitive to social changes and that materializes the structure’s curatorial activities, represents the basis and a reason for operational investments in specific formats and projects. Conceiving the contemporary art dimension as the heart of information based on interaction between the different centers, the Gallery also becomes connected with a system of promoting bodies for establishing an effective network (the AMACI experience). In its laboratory vocation for spreading contemporary art, activities place significant importance to editorial production, to didactics and to conferences. To this, the constant promotion and support to young generations should be added, mainly Italian, by developing exhibitions in foreign countries and publishing art volumes on this subject. With the recent and constant acquisition of papers and drawings, a first Collection Unit has been created, expanding in this way the structure’s operational function: from an exhibition space it evolved into a body that pro-actively promotes the work of young artists.
2009-10-05
