2017 exhibitions programme

Punte brillanti di lance
In collaboration with the City of Palermo, Fondazione Sicilia, the Museo Archeologico Regionale A. Salinas
Palermo, various venues
February 10, 2017–December 2018

On the occasion of the programme of cultural receptions to be held in Palermo with a view to the next edition of Manifesta 12 in 2018, the Fondazione Merz is offering its participation, based on a firm commitment to the main themes of the projects proposed by the cultural affairs department of the city’s, that also was named “Italian Capital of Culture 2018.” Punte brillanti di lance is a series of exhibitions, talks and performances born from the encounter between the Fondazione Merz and Sicily developed thanks to the suggestions of Sicilian land and its peoples. The project confronts with contemporary reflection about the migrant nature of culture and the traces left on the ground. The project will start with an exhibition dedicated to Wael Shawky, hosted in the historical residence Palazzo Branciforte and in the Church of SS. Euno e Giuliano, curated by Beatrice Merz and Laura Barreca. The following events will take place from spring 2017 and will continue until December 2018.

Mario Merz Prize. The finalists of the 2nd edition
Francesco Arena, Petrit Halilaj, Gili Lavy, Shahryar Nashat, Suha Traboulsi
Turin, Fondazione Merz
March 8–May 21, 2017

The exhibition presents works chosen from the most significant output of artistic work of the selected finalists of the second edition of the Prize. The finalists, selected by Marisa Merz, Nicholas Cullinan and Claudia Gioia are: Francesco Arena (Torre Santa Susanna, Brindisi, Italy, 1978), Petrit Halilaj (Kostërrc, Kosovo, 1986) Gily Lavy (Jerusalem, Israel, 1987), Shahryar Nashat (Geneva, Switzerland,1975) and Suha Traboulsi (Freetown, Sierra Leone, 1969). The winner will be selected during the exhibition, by the public vote and the jury comprising Manuel Borja-Villel, Lawrence Weiner, Massimiliano Gioni and Beatrice Merz.

Marzia Migliora
In collaboration with MUVE, Fondazione Musei Civici di Venezia 
Venice, Ca’ Rezzonico
May 10–November 26, 2017

The collaboration with the MUVE has led to a new project by Marzia Migliora (Alessandria, Italy, 1972) curated by Beatrice Merz, during the 57th Venice Biennale. The artist’s works will be displayed in some of the majestic rooms of the Museo del Settecento Veneziano located in the historic Ca’ Rezzonico palace. The project will be characterized by the recurrent modes of expression to be found in the artist’s work: the relationship with space and her exploration of past life. Migliora will propose a site-specific project that will establish a dialogue with some of the works in the collection housed in the historic building. Ca’ Rezzonico will thus be transformed into a meeting place between old and contemporary, where the stories appear to us in all their complexity and full of values: our attention is drawn to the horizon and accompanies the decline of an era or, perhaps, it would be better to say, various eras.

Henrik Håkansson
Turin, Fondazione Merz
June 6–September 17, 2017

Henrik Håkansson (Helsingborg, Sweden, 1968) will present a site-specific exhibition, curated by Maria Centonze, in dialogue with some of Mario Merz’s works. The artist is a naturalist who has moved his fascination with nature into the art world, over time becoming an amateur expert. His projects combine the interests of a biologist, of an ethnologist and of an artist, focusing on the minutiae of nature, but often presented on a large scale through video, sound and light installations, recalling the 19th century explorers who documented the natural and cultural wealth of lands then little-known and of unknown places. Håkansson studies the human condition and its relationship to nature, he treads the borders between Earth’s ecosystems and mankind, treating the complex relations between humans, animals and plants, as aesthetic material for his work.

Zena el Khalil. Sacred Catastrophe. Healing Lebanon
Beit Beirut, Beirut
Autumn 2017 

The exhibition, curated by Beatrice Merz and Janine Maamari, of the Lebanese artist Zena el Khalil (London, 1975) is organized in collaboration with the Liban Art Association, proposing a project that aims to create a space for reconciliation in Beirut, through an exhibition of art and performance. Recently the artist has been in contact with places devastated by environmental disasters, massacres and torture, to try to understand the events that occurred and establish a personal relationship with the spaces, exploring the void and digging deep to find the answers. A visual artist, writer and cultural activist, El Khalil works with a variety of formats. The central themes of her work include the issue of violence and war, using materials found in her city, Beirut. 

Carlos Garaicoa
Turin, Fondazione Merz
Late October 2017–January 2018

Carlos Garaicoa (Havana, 1967) is one of the most representative artists of the contemporary Cuban art scene. The Fondazione Merz has invited Garaicoa to create a new project in the spaces of the Fondazione and in relation with the city of Turin. It offers an important opportunity to raise awareness of the work of this great protagonist of contemporary art and to reflect on the meaning of the city perceived not only as urban projects and master plans but as a place of participation and growth of stories and perspectives. Garaicoa’s project, curated by Claudia Gioia, will occupy the entire space of the Fondazione itself, appearing as a place for the physical and mental crossing of the urban dimension, often an overlap of unfinished projects but also a space for the actions and primacy of the masses.

Nadia Biscaldi, press [​at​] fondazionemerz.org / T +39 011 19719436
Melissa Emery, SUTTON melissa [​at​] suttonpr.com / T +44 (0)207 183 3577