We created this account to tell stories of Italy as seen through the eyes of artists; an editorial format capable of representing the complexity of research through words, images, sounds, bibliographical passions and close-up perspectives to discover an idealised imaginary world, as curated by Elisa Carollo and Mattia Solari. We asked artists living in Italy to share their thoughts on their own work and the complex historical moment we’re living in. These topics, as difficult as they are important, are vital both for understanding the meaning of the changes currently taking place, and exploring broader, more urgent horizons.

Does it still make sense to talk about geographical affiliations or specificities if current events require us to face common challenges that focus our commitment in a unified direction?

If it is true that change gives rise to a distinct and more articulated creative dimension, it is equally true that from this new contemporary scenario emerges a desire to deconstruct outdated social, economic and cultural models in order to rediscover an aim that is perhaps less anthropocentric. How can we deal with the uncertainty of such a significant transition without it simply becoming a chronicle? 

Our journey around the contemporary Italian art scene adopts the horizontal practice of dialectics and records the voices of artists gathered live in their studios or remotely. The aim is to recount art through lived experience rather than through a critical narrative. In the 14 interviews conducted over the course of 2021, this journey illustrates a portion of the multifaceted contemporary artistic production in post-pandemic Italy.

Finally, we asked Lorenzo Balbi, Director of MAMbo in Bologna, and Lucrezia Calabrò Visconti, curator of the Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo’s residency for young curators, to accompany us to consider the matter from another perspective.