Georges Adéagbo
“La rencontre”..! Venise -Florence..!
a project for Florence
curated by Chiara Bertola e Stephan Köhler
Museo di Palazzo Vecchio, Firenze
March 29th – June 18th 2008
vernissage: saturday March 29th 11 a.m.
opening hours:
9:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m.
9:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. (thursdays and festivities)
Frittelli arte contemporanea, Firenze
March 29th – June 18th 2008
vernissage: saturday March 29th 6 p.m.
opening hours: tuesday to saturday
10:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. 3:30 p.m. -7:30 p.m.
The Municipality of Florence and Frittelli arte contemporanea welcomes and promotes Georges Adéagbo’s mobile show ” La rencontre”..! Venise – Florence..!; Adéagbo is considered a very important West African artist and has received ample attention and recognition throughout Europe in the past several years. Venice and Florence are two places with rich histories that helped introduce Adéagbo to Western culture. In the past several months, Venice and the Fondazione Querini Stampalia have served as extraordinary sources of inspiration for Adéagbo’s works; now Florence and Palazzo Vecchio will offer an important new challenge
for Adéagbo.
The project will be presented in two parts, the first section will appear in the rooms of Museo di Palazzo Vecchio, the political center and symbol of Florence, that for the first time open the Monumental Quarters for a contemporary exhibition. The second part will be installed in Frittelli Arte Contemporanea.
Exhibition at Frittelli arte contemporanea
Frittelli arte contemporanea will show the works of Georges Adéagbo that were previously shown at Fondazione Querini Stampalia in Venice; the meeting between Venice and Florence will finally occur (“La rencontre”..! Venise – Florence..!).
The particular project at Palazzo Vecchio looks to expand at Frittelli Arte Contemporanea the entire Western society as represented by a multitude of objects (for example: newspapers, photographs, used boooks, vinyl records, umbrellas, bottles, etc…) which are traces of our culture, and which form a dialogue with handmade objects from the artist’s homeland.
Museo di Palazzo Vecchio Project
Georges Adéagbo will carry out a site specific project based on the history of Florence and a West African artist’s contemporary vision. Through the meeting of these two diverse cultures an installation with a unique look will be created.
Books and antique papers from the library, frescoes and the museums’ perminent works of art , as well as antique musical instruments and antique maps of the world from the “Sala delle Mappe” represent the sounds and colors of the city, its architecture and its monuments, providing the artist with an inexhaustable source of inspiration for his project concerning his ‘meeting’ with Florence.
In Adéagbo’s art there is evidence of the difficulties that people face when they live separately and look for contact with others: “…in areas, separated by walls, everyone hears the noise of others, but they have only a vague idea of how others live. In the end, someone constructs a ladder that he climbs up in order to get a glimpse of how the others live”.
The idea of Adéagbo’s project is to invite viewers to think about their history, in the belief that the look of “others” helps us not only to understand the time in which we live, but also to see our past in a different way.
Outside of the dominant culture of the Western there is another view, one that interprets more than just the historic relationship between Africa and Europe. In accord with this other view is the idea that to work as an artist is to sort through rubble and bring to light what was once buried. When sorting through the rubble, it is important for artists to uncover and make sense of our past – not only of memories but also of actions, transformations and concrete and progressive concepts.
