Artissima takes place in an “unplugged” version for 2020. A new format, extended throughout the city and online that brings together physical exhibitions produced with Fondazione Torino Musei and digital projects.
Given the latest developments of the continuing global impact of Covid-19 the fair’s organisers made the difficult but necessary decision at the end of September not to open the fair in its traditional format this year, inside the spaces of the Oval. Upholding its commitment to the city and its galleries, its cultural and institutional role has prompted Artissima to reinvent its approach, to continue to offer opportunities for discovery, experimentation and immersion in contemporary art in Turin.
Ilaria Bonacossa, director of Artissima, comments: “This unplugged version of Artissima supports the art system and its players in an innovative way, narrating contemporary art and its discovery through the work of Italian and international galleries that have always supported the fair with loyalty and enthusiasm.”
In its physical guise, Artissima Unplugged will present three exhibition projects in the museums of Fondazione Torino Musei – GAM - Galleria Civica d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea, Palazzo Madama - Museo Civico d’Arte Antica and MAO Museo d’Arte Orientale—from November 7, 2020 to January 9, 2021 (opening on November 5 and 6, 2020).
The exhibitions, presented under the theme Frenetic Standstill and curated by Ilaria Bonacossa, will feature works provided by the galleries selected for this edition of the fair.
The theme Frenetic Standstill prompts reflections on the concept of acceleration as opposed to inertia, and on the increasingly urgent need to change our paradigms and to seek possible responses to the present crisis. Responses through cultural and social evolution conveyed by art, has always borne witness to histories and civilizations in the past, while acting as a catalyst of the most innovative visions. The theme ignites the most recent debates and is a timely representation of what we have lived through in the past months in different modes of lockdown.
Parallel to the physical exhibitions across the three museums, Artissima will launch Artissima XYZ, an original cross-media platform that transforms the curated sections of the fair into an immersive digital experience. This year the sections Present Future curated by Ilaria Gianni and Fernanda Brenner, Back to the Future curated by Lorenzo Giusti and Mouna Mekouar, and Disegni curated by Letizia Ragaglia and Bettina Steinbrügge will exist on the platform Artissima XYZ, online from November 3 to December 9, 2020.
Also in the context of the fair’s digital initiatives, produced thanks to the support of Fondazione Compagnia di San Paolo, Artissima will present an online catalogue. Visitors can take advantage of this virtual catalogue of the fair, in order to explore the galleries, artists and works in an interactive way, saving online their preferred content. The online catalogue, to discover the galleries, artists and their works, will be opened to the public on November 5, 2020 until December 9, 2020. Digital visitors can utilise new functions developed this year to respond to the needs of the moment, including information, for example, on the prices of the works (for the galleries that wish to indicate them).
Thanks to the synergy and partnership of Artissima with the City of Torino, the Piedmont Region, the cultural institutions, as well as the galleries, this Autumn brings an opportunity to explore and enjoy contemporary art in new ways.
We believe that art can be our guide, since it has always been a catalyst for the most innovative visions, helping us open up new scenarios that reveal a profound and carefully pondered transformation.
