Turin, MAO a white flag to instill the courage that is sometimes lacking

Displayed from May 2 to Sept. 1, 2024, on the facade of MAO, the Museum of Oriental Art in Turin, waves a white flag, the work of Thai-born artist Rirkrit Tiravanija. It is a poster that sends a clear message: the phrase Fear eats the soul, written in black block letters on the pristine fabric, in fact invites courage and reaction in the face of the paralysis caused by terror that corrodes the soul. Tiravanija has made the flag a fetish object, a symbol that has returned with great frequency in his research since the 1990s. Fear Eats the Soul is inspired by Rainer Werner ’s film Fassbinder Angst essen Seele auf (Fear Eats the Soul, from 1973) and, like other works by the artist, conveys attention to situations of conflict and war, episodes of racism and xenophobia. The center of the city of Turin will also be involved in the artist’s project: from May 2 to 31, fourteen banners with as many of Tiravanija’s phrases will be displayed under the porticos of Via Po, freely accessible to citizens. Freedom cannot be simulated, Less oil more courage, I do not know what we are yelling about, Tomorrow is the question: the banners invite questions about current and problematic issues such as the environmental crisis, the role of work in our society, conflicts between individuals, violence on the weakest and the future that awaits us. Also starting May 2, Pinacoteca Agnelli will host another work by Rirkrit Tiravanija, the installation Untitled (Tomorrow is the question). The project invites people to play ping pong on the south terrace of the Runway. The four tables display the phrase “Tomorrow is the question” in languages related to the major diasporic communities in Turin: the Romanian, Moroccan, Chinese, and Peruvian communities. The game becomes an opportunity to experiment with new forms of sociability, challenging the concept of national belonging. Tiravanija invites the audience to become active participants, putting human relationships and interaction at the center of the future.

Notes on the artist

Rirkrit Tiravanija (Buenos Aires, 1961) has lived in many countries and completed studies at the Ontario College of Art in Toronto, the Banff Center School of Fine Arts, the Art Institute of Chicago, finally following the Independent Study Program at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York. One of the most representative exponents of what Nicolas Bourriaud has called relational aesthetics, with explicit references to the conceptual and avant-garde currents of the 1960s and 1970s such as Fluxus, Tiravanija implements in his work processes of sharing, encountering and interacting with the public, often using everyday activities such as cooking and eating food together. A frequent presence with his work at the Venice Biennale, Tiravanija has exhibited in major international museums including the Guggenheim Museum, MoMA, and the Palais de Tokyo. In 2005 he won the Hugo Boss Prize.

Turin, MAO a white flag to instill the courage that is sometimes lacking

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