Nineteenth Giornata del Contemporaneo
Saturday 7 October 2023
Binta Diaw fot the Nineteenth Giornata del Contemporaneo, Pa(y)sage Corporel, 2023
Saturday 7 October 2023 sees the return of the Giornata del Contemporaneo: the great event promoted by AMACI – Association of Italian Contemporary Art Museums, and held with the support of the Directorate-General for Contemporary Creativity of the Ministry of Culture, as well as the collaboration of the Directorate General for Public and Cultural Diplomacy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.
Now in its nineteenth edition – which will take place as per norm throughout the country, involving museums, foundations, public and private institutions, galleries, studios and artists’ spaces – the Giornata del Contemporaneo will be back in October, aiming to showcase the renewed vigour of contemporary art in Italy. To encourage and enhance potential participation, the event will maintain a hybrid format, physical and digital, with both online and offline offerings, and will revolves around the theme of ecology, bound up with that of sustainability: global issues that place us before the need to rethink the contemporary art system through a renewed awareness and a more widespread sensitivity towards the theme.
In order to flesh out this reflection, the directors of the associated museums have decided to entrust Binta Diaw (Milan, 1995) with the creation of the guiding image for the event, which in the past years has seen the involvement of Michelangelo Pistoletto (2006), Maurizio Cattelan (2007), Paola Pivi (2008), Luigi Ontani (2009), Stefano Arienti (2010), Giulio Paolini (2011), Francesco Vezzoli (2012), Marzia Migliora (2013), Adrian Paci (2014), Alfredo Pirri (2015), Emilio Isgrò (2016), Liliana Moro (2017), Marcello Maloberti (2018), Eva Marisaldi (2019),Armin Linke (2021) and Giorgio Andreotta Calò (Venice, 1979).
The image created by Binta Diaw stems from a long research that has as its starting point the black female body in relation to the traces of colonialism present in today's society. A society subject to different forms of violence that leave their mark, branding the body. A part of the artist's body presented as the background of the work looks like a trunk of a growing plant. The work Pa(y)sage Corporel (2023), specifically chosen to represent the Giornata del Contemporaneo, is an ode to a traditional saying in Wolof of the Senegalese tradition: "Nit nitay garabam". The human being is the care of the human being. The word "garab" in the Wolof language has a double meaning: plant and medicine as a cure. Through the poetic Nature of this proverb, the artist inspired herself to reflect on the organicity that unites human beings with Nature and vice versa.
Binta Diaw (1995, Milan) is an artist based between Milan and Dakar. She graduated from the Brera Academy of Fine Arts in Milan and the ÉSAD in Grenoble. She exhibited in international exhibitions such as Liverpool Biennial, 2023; 12th Berlin Biennale, 2022; 13th Rencontres de Bamako / Biennale Africaine de la Photographie, 2022; Young Artists Biennale San Marino, 2021; and at important exhibition spaces, including Trondheim Kunstall (Trondheim), Prometeogallery by Ida Pisani (Milan); Galerie Cécile Fakhoury (Abidjan, Dakar, Paris); Bungalow ChertLüdde (Berlin); Mother Museum (Naples); Museo Novecento (2021); Sandretto Re Rebaudengo Foundation (2020); MA*GA Museum (2020). You have also received numerous awards, such as the Première laurèate-Prix Carta Bianca (2022), the PART-Rimini Prize (2022) and the Bourse d'Art Plastique de la ville de Grenoble (2020).
Once again this year, the Giornata del Contemporaneo will be extended abroad from Saturday 7 October to Friday 13 October 2023 thanks to the diplomatic-consular network of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, comprising Embassies, Consulates and Italian Cultural Institutes. In collaboration with the Directorate General for Public and Cultural Diplomacy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and thanks to the support of the Directorate-General for Contemporary Creativity of the Ministry of Culture, the participation of AMACI directors and managers will be encouraged in events organised by the Farnesina’s foreign network and by contemporary art-related organisations operating in the countries of reference.
As in previous editions, the Nineteenth Giornata del Contemporaneo will feature several sets of activities and special programming in AMACI member museums; initiatives developed in collaboration with MAECI’s foreign network (Embassies, Consulates and Italian Cultural Institutes abroad); the involvement of the network of the Luoghi del Contemporaneo (‘Places of the Contemporary’), as promoted by the Ministry of Culture’s Directorate-General for Contemporary Creativity; and finally, the proposals of other organisations joining the event which, alongside those from previous editions, will contribute to making the event even more widespread, highlighting the broad network of cultural realities that strive to promote the various languages of Italian contemporary art on the national and international stage. As always, the event is characterised by free admission and free participation in all initiatives.
This year’s event is once more supported by the Directorate-General for Contemporary Creativity of the Ministry of Culture, with the collaboration of the Directorate General for Public and Cultural Diplomacy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, the media partnership of Rai Cultura and Rai 5, the tecnical sponsorship of Artshell and the patronage of Rappresentanza in Italia della Commissione europea, Camera dei deputati, Presidenza del Consiglio dei Ministri, Ministero degli Affari Esteri e della Cooperazione Internazionale, Conferenza delle Regioni e delle Province autonome, UPI - Unione Province d'Italia, ANCI - Associazione Nazionale Comuni Italiani and ICOM Italia.
Are you an artist, a museum, a foundation, a cultural association, a gallery or an organisation promoting contemporary art? Sign up here to participate in the 19th edition of the Giornata del Contemporaneo and open your space on Saturday 7 October 2023 presenting for free to the public through exhibitions, workshops, events and conferences, artists and new ideas. The edition maintains a hybrid format: you can also join with a digital project.
Are you an Embassy, a Consulate or an Italian Cultural Institute? Use the same form to join the Giornata del Contemporaneo - Italian Contemporary Art and promote the initiative outside Italy from Saturday 7 October to Friday 13 October 2023.
Instructions on how to use the application form for the Nineteenth Giornata del Contemporaneo are available at this link. For any further information, please write to giornatadelcontemporaneo@amaci.org.
SAVE THE DATE PRESS CONFERENCE
The press conference of the 19th edition of the Giornata del Contemporaneo will be held online on Thursday 28 September at 11.30 a.m., please fill in the accreditation form to attend.
