“We wanted to introduce students to art and transform the university into an open-air gallery.” Thus Terapie d’urto, the new series of exhibits curated by LUISS art workshop participants and sponsored by Cultural Activities, was born.
As with the previous series, Trasparenze, the student curator group chose artists exclusively under 35, from both the Italian and international scenes, to display their work in two exhibits, from June to December 2016. The first exhibit, Volumi, features sculptures scattered around the Viale Romania campus, while the second exhibit, Toni, dedicated to painting, will be displayed in Aula Chiesa.
“The workshop is just one of the initiatives designed to improve the university atmosphere and introduce students to the art world,” explains Carlo Maria Lolli Ghetti, curator and coordinator of the workshop: “We are experimenting with installations in public places. It’s more complex to organize and structure, but it’s also more interesting for the students.”
The goal of this year’s exhibits, continues Lolli Ghetti is “to reach as many people as possible and make art accessible to everyone.” The series’ title comes from the goal of “transmitting a strong and unequivocal message: the idea that art is not afunctional, but that it communicates and helps you see daily elements and spaces with different eyes, or discover things you never noticed before.”
Cristina Bianco Chinto is a first-year master’s student in Government and Policies specializing in Communication and New Media, and one of the 30 students participating in the workshop this year. “There was such lively participation. There were no lectures, instead there was continuous discussion. There was an intense debate the night that we chose the title. The names of the exhibits were easier, they came to us while surveying the campus spaces. We chose the best corners to display pieces in, taking into consideration the artists we were thinking of using. Volumi is about physicality and occupying space with an in-your-face attitude. However it can also refer to sound, to noise. Toni, the second part of Terapie d’urto is more subtle and gets its name from tone of voice, which here is more moderate, and less invasive.”
We tried to choose strong, unexpected pieces, that can communicate with everyone,” continues Cristina. “Art doesn’t have to transmit a single message, you can see two different things even in the most figurative paintings. The important thing is that everyone gets something out of it.”
A long-time fan of art, Cristina knew about the workshop even before starting at LUISS. “It’s one of the reasons I came here. I saw the news on the university’s website, so I decided to participate in the master’s program informational sessions, Magistrali si diventa, where I met Professor D’Alimonte. As soon as I came to Rome I contacted Cultural Activities that allowed me to start in September, even if it was last year’s workshop. I worked on the staging of the last two exhibits, then in November I joined the new group. Basically, I started with hammering nails into walls and then learned about the theoretic part.”
“In addition to discussions with other students, selecting artists and writing texts, there is the practical part of setting up exhibits. You have to choose the best place for each piece and how to make artists interact, understanding where and how the paintings work best. It was even more interesting when the artists worked with us, it’s the part that makes you feel most involved in the process.”
“The role of the curator in Italy is peculiar, explains Carlo. “He needs to be a professional well-versed in contemporary art, even from a practical point of view. Curation is adapting a real-world scientific process and resolve a series of problems that follow."
“I couldn’t have imagined how much success our experiment has had,” concludes Carlo. Participants are not given grades or credits. Participation is strictly voluntary and the most interesting lessons are those with participation and debate. My hope for next year is that we have even more meetings.”
