Across Italy, Day of the Contemporary returns in attendance for big celebration

Saturday, October 8, 2022 sees the return of Giornata del Contemporaneo, the major event promoted by AMACI - Association of Italian Contemporary Art Museums and carried out with the support of the Directorate General for Contemporary Creativity of the Ministry of Culture, and the collaboration of the Directorate General for Public and Cultural Diplomacy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.

The Day of the Contemporary, now in its 18th edition, will take place as always throughout the country and will involve museums, foundations, public and private institutions, galleries, studios and artist spaces. The great celebration of contemporary art returns in October, in attendance, to recount the reborn vitality of contemporary art in Italy, after restrictions due to two years of pandemic. The event will maintain a hybrid format, physical and digital, in order to encourage and enhance the widest possible participation with online and offline proposals, and will have the theme ofecology, linked to that of sustainability, as a common thread.

The directors of the member museums decided to entrust Giorgio Andreotta Calò (Venice, 1979) with the creation of the event’s guiding image. It is Icarus (2021-2022), the last piece of an articulated project created by Giorgio Andreotta Calò starting in 2019. A moth emerges from the half-light in the foreground, its wings concealing the face of a boy who seems to offer it, with a gentle gesture, his hand for support. The lepidopteran and the young man appear in dialogue, and for a moment the moth’s thin wings seem to become an extension of the boy’s fingers, as in a beginning of metamorphosis that is triggered by the setting of the sun. Dusk becomes the moment of possibilities, that transition territory between the known and the unknown in which a teenager transforms into a young man and, spreading his still-fragile wings for the first time, accepts the responsibility of becoming an adult and flying alone in the world. In the year in which the Day of the Contemporary is eighteen years old, Giorgio Andreotta Calò’s image seems to respond in a symbolically open way to the invitation to reflect on the environmental crisis, emphasizing the importance of passing the baton to the new generations, the adults of tomorrow, to whom we entrust the responsibility of building a better future.

Once again this year, the Day of the Contemporary will be extended abroad from Saturday, Oct. 8 to Friday, Oct. 14, 2022 by the diplomatic-consular network of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, composed of Embassies, Consulates and Italian Cultural Institutes. In collaboration with the Directorate General for Public and Cultural Diplomacy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, and thanks to the support of the Directorate General for Contemporary Creativity of the Ministry of Culture, the participation of AMACI directors and directors in the events organized by the Farnesina’s foreign network and contemporary-related realities active in the countries of reference will be encouraged.

Also this edition, the Day of the Contemporary will present several nuclei of activities: an ad hoc programming of AMACI member museums, which will propose a focus on activities dedicated to the public of 18-year-olds; the initiatives developed in collaboration with the foreign network of MAECI (Embassies, Consulates and Italian Cultural Institutes abroad); the involvement of the network of the Places of the Contemporary promoted by the General Directorate of Contemporary Creativity of the Ministry of Culture; and finally, the proposals of the adhering subjects by bringing out the widespread network of cultural realities that promote the different languages of the Italian contemporary on the national and international territory. As always, the event features free admission and free participation in all initiatives.

“The 18th edition of Giornata del Contemporaneo promises to be a great celebration of Italian art and creativity, spread throughout the country thanks to the involvement of museums, foundations, public and private institutions, galleries, studios and artist spaces. Eighteen years is an important milestone, a ’maturity’ that this edition wants to demonstrate in a particular way by addressing young people through a hybrid format that will unite projects in both physical and digital space, devoting specific attention to the themes of ecology, sustainability and the abatement of emissions: global emergencies that are well evoked by young people around the world during Fridays for Future and that also confront the contemporary art system with the need to rethink itself,” said Lorenzo Balbi, AMACI President.

“We are particularly happy that the Day of the Contemporary returns this year to take place in presence, after the two years of limitations due to the pandemic, allowing the public to visit contemporary museums and spaces live again,” said

Director General Contemporary Creativity of the Ministry of Culture Onofrio Cutaia. “The support of our Directorate General to AMACI for this event, which has been active for many years and has been renewed for this edition as well, confirms the attention of the institutions to relevant projects for the promotion of contemporary art at the national and international level, capable of creating an effective network of public and private entities.”

The event has the support of the General Directorate for Contemporary Creativity of the Ministry of Culture, the collaboration of the General Directorate for the Promotion of the Country System of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, and the patronage of the Representation in Italy of the European Commission, the Senate of the Republic, the Chamber of Deputies, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, the Conference of Regions and Autonomous Provinces, UPI - Union of Italian Provinces, ANCI - National Association of Italian Municipalities, and ICOM Italy.

To participate in the 2022 edition of the Day of the Contemporary, registration is required by Oct. 7 through the form available at the link https://giornatadelcontemporaneo.amaci.org/it, created in collaboration with Artshell.

Image: Giorgio Andreotta Calò for the 18th Day of the Contemporary, Icarus, 2021-2022

Across Italy, Day of the Contemporary returns in attendance for big celebration

Warning: the translation into English of the original Italian article was created using automatic tools. We undertake to review all articles, but we do not guarantee the total absence of inaccuracies in the translation due to the program. You can find the original by clicking on the ITA button. If you find any mistake,please contact us.