ALL’APERTO
A contemporary art project
curated by Andrea Zegna and
Barbara Casavecchia
ALBERTO GARUTTI
Opening September 19th, 2009
from 3 to 6 pm
Permanent work in the hamlets of
Trivero (BI) – Italy
http://www.fondazionezegna.org/allaperto
The second edition of the contemporary art project ALL’APERTO (OUTDOORS), curated by Andrea Zegna and Barbara Casavecchia, opens September 19th, presenting a public work by the Italian artist Alberto Garutti (Galbiate, Lecco, 1948).
Together with Alberto Garutti, the protagonists of the event will be the families of Trivero (Biella). Thanks to the collaboration with the teachers and the students of one of Trivero’s primary school fifth grades, the artist was able to map the territory by using an innovative method: the identification of the pet dogs living in the hamlets of Trivero that the children were invited to select, describe and draw. This method initiated a spontaneous mechanism of participation thanks to which Garutti was able to meet and involve in his project many inhabitants, from the children’s families and the owners of the dogs to local authorities, thus developing an intense relation with the territory.
The final result is a public art work that can be used (and adopted ) by everyone: a series of cement benches with a seated portrait of one or two of the dogs. On each bench an explanatory caption serves both as a dedication and title:The dog in this portrait belongs to one of the families of Trivero. This artwork is dedicated to them and to the people that will talk about them while sitting here.
ALL’APERTO is an initiative of the Fondazione Zegna, a non-profit institution, supporting since 2000 cultural, social, medical and environmental projects for communities in different parts of the world. With the intention of making contemporary art and its values increasingly accessible, every year ALL’APERTO supports the realization of site specific artistic interventions in Trivero and its surroundings by established international artists.
The project debuted in June 2008 with a spectacular permanent installation by the French artist Daniel Buren (Boulogne-Billancourt, 1938) entitled The Coloured Weather Vanes, work in situ, 2007, Trivero: a green and light-blue rainbow of 135 flags that frames the roof of the Zegna wool factory.
The decision to introduce contemporary art into these localities is linked to the hundred-year-old history of Ermenegildo Zegna, who saw no conflict between a commitment to quality in business and efforts to improve the natural, social and cultural setting in which we live. The development and the enhancement initiatives on the territory of Trivero have always been part of the Zegna history: initially with the building of social structures and of the Panoramica Zegna started by the group’s founder and continued by the following generations along with the foundation of the Oasi Zegna project and of the Fondazione Zegna; ALL’APERTO, together with Casa Zegna (the historical archive of the Zegna company and cultural centre open since 2007), is a further step in this direction that testifies the commitment and the coherence of the Zegna Group s action on its own territory – a territory where a unique fabric known all around the world is produced.
For the 2009 edition of ALL’APERTO the Fondazione Zegna invited Alberto Garutti to create a public artwork that should be diffused on the territory and located in streets, squares and different significant spots around Trivero, a small town stretching out on a very vast area and divided in dozens of hamlets. The Fondazione agreed with enthusiasm to the artist s suggestion to realize a series of simple and common objects: cement benches with an anti-monumental edge, perfectly blending with the context, yet made special by the presence of the portraits of the dogs. “The moment art enters the urban context, it feels the need to offer itself and meet the people”, says Garutti. “When art is faced with a non specialized audience, but with people in general, art must search for means of communication to establish a dialogue, shifting and revising its language and methods. I like to think that my work mirrors the town of Trivero from which it itself originates. And I wish the inhabitants to feel they are the protagonists of this work. I chose dogs as a way of talking about the families who own them: in a way, by following their ways of living, habits and attitudes, these animals mirror the families they belong to. The dog mirrors the image of his owner and expresses the amount of care, attention and love that exists amongst them: to talk about a dog and the person that has him in his home becomes a way of outlining the story of a strong bond, of an ongoing and mutual exchange. A dog is a beautiful metaphor: like art a dog approaches people and would like to socialize with everyone”.
The benches will be located in different meeting and activity sites of the hamlets of Trivero.
ALL’APERTO is sponsored by the Municipality of Trivero, the Province of Biella and the Piedmont Region and is supported by an Advisory Board comprising Catia Riccaboni (Fondation de France), Tom van Gestel (SKOR, Amsterdam), Michelangelo Pistoletto (Cittadellarte), Salvatore Lacagnina (Istituto Svizzero di Roma).
Catalogue published by Silvana Editoriale with texts by Anna Zegna, Andrea Zegna, Barbara Casavecchia, Viktor Misiano.
ALL’APERTO press office
Alessandra de Antonellis +39 339 3637388 alessandra.deantonellis [at] fastwebnet.it
Cristiana Rota +39 347 5258440 cristianarota [at] gmail.com
FONDAZIONE ZEGNA press office
Federico Amato +39 02 89077394 federico.amato [at] efficere.it