Paesaggio is one of the two exhibition cycles of the program Quotidiana at the Museo di Roma – Palazzo Braschi conceived and produced by La Quadriennale di Roma in collaboration with City of Rome,Department of Culture – Superintendency for Cultural Heritage.Its aim is to explore a number of significant trends in 21st-century Italian art.
Every two months, six curators (three Italian and three foreign) reflect on artistic trajectories of particular interest through a critical text and an exhibition of a few essential works.
The eighth exhibition of Paesaggio, (25 November 2023 – 21 January 2024), is dedicated to Francesco Arena (Naples, 1982),Rossella Biscotti (Rome, 1982) and Claire Fontaine (collective created in Paris in 2004, made up of Fulvia Carnevale and James Thornhill) and it is introduced by an essay by Daphne Vitali intitled Unpacking My History. A Quest for Recent Italian History in the Art of the 2000s dedicated to the Italian artists who have had to confront pivotal events in their country’s contemporary history. Certain moments, imprinted in a fragile and gap-filled collective memory, are reconstructed and addressed anew, so as to question prevalent narratives. This aims to provide new tools to help interpret the historical-political present of the society in which we live. The essay can be read by clicking here.
Francesco Arena’s marble sculpture is dedicated to the case of Stefano Cucchi, who was killed in pre-trial detention in 2009. The case has become a symbol of the abuse of power by the forces of law and order in Italy. The 3,274 days — approximately nine years — that elapsed from the moment of the young man’s death to that of his executioners’ sentencing, is visually conveyed by the artist through the insertion of a packet of 3,274 diary pages in a specially carved marble memorial.
Rossella Biscotti’s video, which is part of the far-reaching multimedia project Il processo (The Trial) (2010-’13), originates from research into the famous 7 April trial of members of the Autonomia operaia movement, held in the bunker room of the Tribunale di Roma at the Foro italic in 1983–84. The artist leads a visit to the courtroom by a group of former efendants, family members and lawyers involved in the trial, and she films the reactions and discussions that arise spontaneously thirty years after the events took place.
Claire Fontaine’s works refer to the violent police repression during the demonstrations at the Genoa G8 summit in 2001. A lightbox displays a blown-up image of a Milan-Genoa train ticket from the day before the murder of Carlo Giuliani. A brick wrapped with the cover of an anthology of texts on the Genoa events stands as an ironic invitation to intellectual resistance against violence.
The exhibition venue is the Museo di Roma-Palazzo Braschi (Piazza di San Pantaleo, 10/Piazza Navona, 2). The admission is free without reservation. Opening hours: from Tuesday to Sunday 10.00 – 19.00
