November 3–5, 2017
Preview and opening: November 2
Artissima
Oval Pavilion, Lingotto Fiere
Turin
Italy
Artissima, Italy’s leading contemporary art fair, will return to the Olympic Oval pavilion in Turin from November 3 to 5, 2017, for the first time under the guidance of Ilaria Bonacossa.
Renowned on an international level for its focus on experimental practices and its path of constant innovation from one year to the next, in 2017 the fair will feature a series of new developments: besides the recently announced new Disegni (Drawings) section, the updated team of curators and an innovative digital platform, Artissima will be enhanced by new ideas and specific initiatives: a special exhibition project, the “Deposito d’Arte Italiana Presente” (Warehouse of Present-Day Italian Art), an innovative programme of talks, and a renewed architectural layout for the fair pavilion designed by studio Vudafieri Saverino Partners of Milan.
“The year 2017—Ilaria Bonacossa explains—is the 50th anniversary of the initiatives that were essential to the genesis of Arte Povera. Artissima attempts to trace back through some of the most novel experiences of that period, which laid the groundwork for Turin’s status as the Italian capital of contemporary art. The fair will investigate the relationships between artistic practices, the market, collecting and leisure time through the temporary reconstruction of iconic contexts like the Deposito d’Arte Presente (1967–68) or the Piper (1966–69) club, for their visionary capacity to reinvent roles and to activate contaminations between different disciplines.”
The new exhibition project
Curated by Ilaria Bonacossa and Vittoria Martini, the “Deposito d’Arte Italiana Presente” (Warehouse of Present-Day Italian Art) is the new cultural project of Artissima on Italian art. The Deposito will contain remarkable works loaned by Piedmont-based institutions and others from private collections, together with some pieces from the galleries taking part in the fair, acknowledging their outstanding role in the shaping of the history of contemporary art in our country.
For this new project Artissima has taken inspiration from one of the most innovative experiences of Turin in the 1960s, the Deposito d’Arte Presente (1967–68)—”an extemporaneous, non-permanent collection … a space for the present, for a type of art connected to the hic et nunc and stripped of any sacred character.”
With the “Deposito d’Arte Italiana Presente” Artissima reprises that format, shifting it into the present and using it as a conceptual setting for a project that absorbs the operative modes of the original. The Deposito is not really an exhibition, but a place from which to trigger a narration of Italian art of the last 20 years, to photograph it today and understand its future developments, creating a dynamic place of display and discussion.
Education and speakers’ series
For 2017, Artissima has imagined a new experimental project, based on the historical Piper club of Torino, creating a space in which to narrate contemporary art, to listen, participate and work side by side with artists and curators.
The project coordinated by Paola Nicolin will adopt the methods of “theclassroom”, an art and education centre founded in 2016 in Milan, which invites artists to conduct an art history course in a classroom designed for the occasion, transforming the space of learning into a place of artistic production.
In this perspective, Artissima will host an open class where an invited artist, with the students and guests of the programme, will construct a schedule of lectures, interviews, conversations and film screenings across all the days of the fair, turning the discotheque into an alternative school.
Artissima Collectors’ Talks and Walkie Talkies
Artissima launches a new programme of Collectors’ Talks coordinated by international curator Abaseh Mirvali, focusing on how collecting is transforming the art world through the views of collectors, artists, critics, gallerists and museum directors. The talks will be enriched by exclusive visits of the fair—the Walkie Talkies—a series of short conversations between pairs of international collectors and curators, launched with the aim of creating close personal contact between artists and collectors. These conversations in motion become surprising tours of the fair, allowing the speakers to develop unique readings of contemporary art through the works shown by the galleries.
The digital platform
The digital platform of Artissima will accompany the audience throughout the year, with moments of in-depth analysis and previews through the various social media. As a first step, the fair launched #ArtissimaRewind, a programme of virtual appointments to explore the last edition of Artissima: performances, interviews, conversations and guided tours are released each Thursday on its social networks.
Furthermore, in 2017 the catalogue of the fair migrates from paper into digital form, through a platform that will permit galleries to come into contact with a very large audience of art fans.
We look forward to welcoming you in Torino for a mesmerising experience!
Artissima is a trademark of the Regione Piemonte, the Città Metropolitana di Torino and the Città di Torino; by order of these three institutions, it reports to Fondazione Torino Musei. The 24th Artissima is produced with the support of the three institutions that hold the trademark, jointly with Fondazione per l’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea CRT, Compagnia di San Paolo and the Camera di commercio di Torino. The organisation of Artissima is entrusted to Artissima srl, the company formed in 2008 to oversee the artistic and commercial relations of the fair.
Partners & Friends
Main Partner: UniCredit
Partners: Glenfiddich, illycaffè, K-Way, Lancia, Lauretana, Montblanc, Fondazione Sardi per l’Arte, Torino Outlet Village, Tosetti Value
In-kind Sponsors: Gebrüder Thonet Vienna, GL Events Italia – Lingotto Fiere, Guido Gobino, Lago, Nemo Lighting, Torino Airport | Sagat
Media Partner: La Stampa
Media Coverage: Sky Arte HD
