On Saturday, Oct. 18, Fondazione Monte Verità in Ascona is dedicating a day of international studies to Harald Szeemann, 20 years after his death. The conference, entitled Places of Utopia, will be held in the Auditorium of the historic venue and will be curated by Nicoletta Mongini, cultural director of the Monte Verità Foundation, and Gianna A. Mina, former director of the Vincenzo Vela Museum and member of the Monte Verità Foundation Committee. The initiative aims to analyze the legacy of the Swiss curator, considered among the most influential figures in the post-World War II curatorial scene, and its relevance in the contemporary cultural context.
Harald Szeemann revolutionized the role of the curator, introducing new modes of exhibition and redefining the exhibition not only as a display of works, but as a critical and utopian space, built in dialogue with artists and audiences. The day will build on the concept of Total Art(Gesamtkunstwerk), recurring throughout Szeemann’s career, to explore its different declinations in cultural, institutional and creative contexts, from the collective experience of the 1960s and 1970s to today’s virtual and digital forms. Reflections on utopia will also be related to the contemporary geopolitical temperament and the role of the creative gesture in complex and variable contexts. The morning will start at 10:30 a.m. with an introduction by Nicoletta Mongini. Following, Tobia Bezzola, director of MASI Lugano, will offer a reflection on the relationship between Szeemann and museum institutions, analyzing the tension between curatorial independence and institutional collaboration. Artist Una Szeemann, daughter of the curator, will then present the narrative and affective value of the objects collected by her father, linking them to personal experiences, travels and relationships. The presentation will also include an in-depth look at Pretention Intention, an exhibition that opened last July 19 in the Monte Verità air-light huts and will remain open until Oct. 19.
Next, Pietro Rigolo, head of the Collection and chief curator of the Pinacoteca Agnelli, will reconstruct La Mamma, Szeemann’s never-realized exhibition project dedicated to the maternal figure and the divine feminine, illustrating the extreme imagination behind the exhibitions that remained on paper. Beatrice Merz, president of the Merz Foundation, will instead analyze the collective and relational dimensions of Szeemann’s work through the experience of his relationships with Marisa and Mario Merz. Jonas Lendenmann, researcher at SUPSI, will delve into Szeemann’s archival work and systematic documentation, focusing on the Monte Verità Szeemann Fund, defined as a meta-archive that combines historical research and curatorial creation.
After the break, the afternoon session will open with a focus on the contemporary. Andrea Lissoni, artistic director of the Haus der Kunst in Munich, will illustrate the role of institutions and their transdisciplinary and transnational rethinking, highlighting interaction with the public as a key element. Giovanni Carmine, director of Kunst Halle Sankt Gallen, will analyze the curatorial profession today, suspended between critical autonomy and art market pressures. Beatrice Trussardi will present alternative, nomadic and immaterial institutional models capable of responding to the challenges of the new millennium. Maria Luisa Frisa, fashion theorist and curator, will instead associate the concept of utopia with the work of Elio Fiorucci in the 1970s and 1980s, showing how fashion can act as a surface for experimentation and dialogue with art. Finally, Chiara Gatti, art historian and Repubblica columnist, will discuss new forms of artistic narrative, between popularization, writing and multimedia languages, highlighting tools to make art more accessible and inclusive.
The full day, divided into two sessions, will take place from 10:30 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. and from 2:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. The talks will offer a comprehensive overview of the evolution of the curatorial role, the possibilities of utopia in the arts, and the relationship between creativity and institutions. The conference is open to the public without reservation, and Monte Verità Restaurant is offering a vegetarian menu for 30 Swiss francs by reservation.
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| Monte Verità remembers Harald Szeemann with study day on Places of Utopia |
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