Hunger for infinity, the new multi-sensory exhibit at the museum dedicated to Maria Lai

From June 26, the public will be able to admire the Art Station’s new permanent collection display, entitled Maria Lai. Hunger for Infinity.

It is proposed as a multisensory experience designed to encourage a new approach to art: art to be seen, to be felt, to be touched; works that will cross all physical and intellectual barriers. Fame d’infinito intends to recover the direct dialogue with the public on the occasion of the reopening of the museum strongly desired by the artist from Ulax.

The exhibition is organized by the Fondazione Stazione dell’Arte with the support of the Autonomous Region of Sardinia, the Municipality of Ulassai and the Fondazione di Sardegna. Curated by Davide Mariani, director of the museum dedicated to Maria Lai, the new exhibit charts Maria Lai’s entire artistic journey through the most significant works she donated to the Municipality of Ulassai: from sculptures to pencil and ink drawings, from looms to sewn canvases, from famous breads to sewn books, from geographies to installations and environmental interventions.

The permanent exhibition project is divided according to chronological and thematic order and is enriched by educational apparatus, tactile reproductions of the artifacts on display, and an interactive multimedia archive. “Committed to physical and intellectual accessibility, the new layout will allow the viewer to grasp, through the use of different senses (visual, sound, tactile), the work of Maria Lai. At the same time, it marks the new vocation of the museum’s spaces, which, in addition to the permanent exhibition, will also develop its programming in the other buildings of the former railway station, delving, from time to time, into certain themes dear to Maria Lai, through the creation of exhibitions and site-specific projects by other artists called to dialogue with her legacy,” the director explained.

The use of different materials, such as terracotta, fabric, wood, plastic or plexiglass, reveals the propensity toward continuous experimentation. Sardinia and Ulassai in particular have been an inexhaustible source of inspiration for the artist, focusing on the analysis of the relationship between the self and the infinite, man and nature, the microcosm and the macrocosm. “The artist has been able to transform, with skillful mastery, his own daily experience into an experience of a universal character, creating works from the reinterpretation of myths, stories and legends of his land. The use of metaphor as a means capable of revealing the profound meaning of the works, which constitutes an artifice constantly deployed by Maria Lai to bring art closer to the people, is also found in this review, in which the viewer is called upon to interact and find his or her own personal key to interpretation,” the director added.

On the occasion of the centenary of Maria Lai’s birth, the tactile path was created in 2019, aimed especially at the blind and visually impaired. Using traditional methods and the support of 3D relief and 3D printing technologies, an ideal itinerary was created over a body of works belonging to the museum’s collection. A project curated by the ABAP Superintendence for the metropolitan area of Cagliari and the provinces of Oristano and South Sardinia and produced in collaboration with the Art Station Foundation and the Municipality of Ulassai, the Regional Institute Sardegna Ricerche and the Omero State Tactile Museum of Ancona.

Finally, the interactive multimedia archive includes interviews with the artist, documentaries made by director Francesco Casu, video footage and virtual tours with 360° video cameras and specific software for omnidirectional exploration of the artworks and environmental interventions. It is also possible to see works from the Maria Lai Open-Air Museum, such as those created in the Lavatoio (1982-1989), as well as La strada del rito (1992), La scarpata (1993), Il volo del gioco dell’oca (2003), La lavagna (2003), Il muro del tangiglio (2004), La casa delle inquietudini (2005) and Fiabe intrecciate. Homage to Gramsci (2007).

For info: www.stazionedellartexperience.com

Hours: Tuesday through Sunday 9:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Closed Mondays.

Image: Permanent installation Hunger for Infinity. Ph. Credit E.Loi, S.Melis Arasole. Courtesy Art Station Foundation

Hunger for infinity, the new multi-sensory exhibit at the museum dedicated to Maria Lai

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