Postmonument

Postmonument
26 June – 31 October 2010

Opening: 26 June, 11 a.m.

Piazza Cesare Battisti,
54033 Carrara, Italy

www.labiennaledicarrara.it

The XIV International Sculpture Biennale of Carrara, curated by Fabio Cavallucci, will take place from June 26th to October 31st 2010.

Postmonument is the title of the exhibition, which deals with that radical process of de-monumentalization which has freed sculpture from any celebratory, encomiastic functions.

The monument has been the emblem of power, the tool of mass homologation, but also the catalyst of patriotic values and an irreplaceable building-block in the construction of collective memory. It became a fundamental target of revolts and revolutions, and was then eliminated with the application of the ideals of democracy and freedom of our times.

However in the flexible, ever-changing scenario of modern-day society, in a turn-of-the-century atmosphere, the old values and materials can sometimes be seen to re-emerge alongside the contemporary iconoclasm.

After all, Carrara offers many ideas and suggestions: its territory, which has always been linked to both marble quarrying and processing, is at present suffering from the decline of traditional sculpture following the fall of the 20th century myths and ideologies. The local context thus becomes a mirror of those cracks in the symbolic and productive system of the entire western world, and the contact with this real situation provides inspiration for the artists invited to the exhibition.

The decision to involve the whole of the town by using multiple exhibition sites – old sculpture laboratories and other abandoned buildings in the centre, but also places which are symbols of the city, such as squares and religious sites – further expresses that dimension of transition and suggests the end of an era.

In the exhibition, the theme is introduced by a wide historical section with examples of late 19th and early 20th century monumental production. These stand alongside models of statues from the Fascist period and social realism. But the central part of the exhibition is the groups of works by more than thirty contemporary artists from all over the world, twenty-six of which realized especially for this occasion.

At the same time, the desire for majesty once entrusted to sculpture is today best satisfied by the expressive power of contemporary architecture, represented in the exhibition by maquettes and site-specific projects of world famous architects.

But the theme of the exhibition does not lack more improvised and extensive approaches offered by the cycle of workshops and performances which enrich the programme in late summer. Discussion is then extended to a political and social point of view, thanks to the decisive contribution of the catalogue, which includes, as well as the curator’s text and numerous interventions by art critics and historians, also the exclusive interviews with the former President of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbaciov, and the famous sociologist Zygmunt Bauman.

Furthermore, the exhibition path of the XIV International Sculpture Biennale of Carrara is enriched by a selection of Parallel Events which vary from design to monographic shows to theatre pieces. The events have been submitted and independently organized by galleries and associations.

The fourteenth International Sculpture Biennale of Carrara is organised by the Council of Carrara, the Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio of Carrara and the Cassa di Risparmio of Carrara, with the support of Regione Toscana and Provincia di Massa Carrara and in collaboration with the Fine Arts Academy of Carrara, the Agency for Tourism Promotion of Massa Carrara, the Internazionale Marmi e Macchine Carrara Spa, and the Friends of the Fine Arts Academy of Carrara association.

Catalogue SilvanaEditoriale

Artists:

History
Libero Andreotti, Veniamin Bogolubov & Vladimir Ingal, Aldo Buttini, Leonardo Bistolfi, Arturo Dazzi, Lucio Fontana, Grigor Kepinov, Arturo Martini, Fausto Melotti, Alina Szapocznikow, Dymitr Szwarc, Adolfo Wildt, Wu Maoquan & Wu Huibao

Present
Carl Andre, Giorgio Andreotta Calò, Huma Bhabha, Rossella Biscotti, Monica Bonvicini, Carlos Bunga, Cai Guo-Qiang, Valentin Carron, Maurizio Cattelan, Marcelo Cidade, Nemanja Cvijanović, Sam Durant, Urs Fischer, Yona Friedman, Cyprien Gaillard, Antony Gormley, Thomas Houseago, Daniel Knorr, Terence Koh, Liu Jianhua, Paul McCarthy, Yerbossyn Meldibekov & Nurbossyn Oris, Ohad Meromi, Gustav Metzger, Deimantas Narkevicius, Kristina Norman, Damián Ortega, Santiago Sierra, Rirkrit Tiravanija, Kevin van Braak, Yelena Vorobyeva & Viktor Vorobyev, Gillian Wearing, Artur Żmijewski

Architecture
Asymptote, Norman Foster, Massimiliano Fuksas, Frank O. Gehry, Zaha Hadid, Daniel Libeskind, MVRDV, Jean Nouvel

Workshop and Performance
Nevin Aladag, Vanessa Beecroft, Grzegorz Kowalski, Zorka Wollny

Dates and Hours:
26 June – 31 October, 2010
Until 19th September: from Tuesday to Thursday from 11.00 a.m. to 8.00 p.m.; from Friday to Sunday from 11.00 a.m. to 10.30 p.m.
from 21st September: from 11.00 a.m. to 7.00 p.m.
Closed on Monday

For Marcognano Cemetery opening times, adhere to normal cemetery opening times.

Opening:
26 June, 11.00 a.m.
Press and professional preview
25 June, 12.00 a.m.

Exhibition sites:
Indoors
Ex segheria Adolfo Corsi
Via Covetta 38, Avenza (Carrara)
Ex laboratorio Ugo Corsi
Via Apuana 7, Carrara
Ex laboratorio Corsi Nicolai
Viale Potrignano 22/d, Carrara
Seminterrato Scuole Saffi
Piazza Gramsci (ex Piazza d’Armi), Carrara
Chiesa di Santa Maria delle Lacrime
Via Carriona 33, Carrara

Outdoors:
Piazza Alberica, Carrara
Piazza Gramsci (ex Piazza d’Armi), Carrara
Spiaggia Molo di Ponente, Porto di Marina di Carrara (Carrara)
Piazza Brucellaria (ex Montecatini), Carrara
Cimitero Monumentale di Marcognano,
Viale Potrignano 2, Carrara

Info:
XIV Biennale Internazionale di Scultura di Carrara
c/o Teatro degli Animosi – Piazza Cesare Battisti, 54033 Carrara – Italy
T/F: +39 0585 641477– E: biennaledicarrara.info@gmail.com
W: www.labiennaledicarrara.it