Art City Bologna 2023 and Marca Corona. The story of this first edition together.
From 27 January to 5 February, the Art City Bologna 2023 initiative continued to brighten the days of many visitors and contemporary art lovers, who flocked to the city of Bologna to participate in the numerous events planned.
Marca Corona was part of this rich programme thanks to a series of appointments dedicated to artistic dialogue between culture and architecture, to the valorisation of new talents and to sensory experiences that combine sight and sound.
A story we are pleased to share that explains our first time at Art City Bologna. Let's discover together the events and highlights of the three-day event signed Marca Corona.
The connections and visions between art and architecture at Art City Bologna
On the first day of 3 February, we inaugurated the start of Art City Bologna 2023 with a conference aimed at art and architecture professionals and lovers, entitled "Cantiere Futuro. Connessioni e visioni tra Arte e Architettura." (Future Building Site. Connections and Visions between Art and Architecture).
The conference deepened the intense dialogue between these two disciplines, which have always been interrelated, through keynote speeches by renowned personalities from the worlds of architecture, history and art.
In the first part of the event, Aldo Colonetti - historian and theorist of art, history and architecture, lecturer at the Politecnico, Milan and director of the SOS school (School of Sustainability) founded by Mario Cucinella - and Italo Rota - urban planner, scientific director of the NABA (New Academy of Fine Arts in Milan) and international lecturer - introduced the concept of design as a common ground for all the activities that make up the culture of living, framing it within the broader horizon in which the architecture originated, namely that of art.
This was the starting point for a reflection involving the topics of expressive identity and disciplinary autonomy, which was then extended in the round table "Rigenerazione e nuove generazioni: la cultura come aggregatore" (Regeneration and new generations: culture as an aggregator) where the opportunity to redevelop spaces and entire districts by recognising the artists' capacity for vision was added to the previous topics, in order to give places a new vocation. This last part of the conference was attended by several industry professionals, such as:
- Emilia Giorgi - curator of the visual arts and architecture
- Guido Incerti - architect and council member of the Bologna Association of Architects (competition commission coordinator)
- Andrea Raimondi - co-founder of R&P Contemporary Art
- Giuseppe Stampone - artist
- Federica Verona - urban architect
New talents are born at Art City and Arte Fiera Bologna 2023
The Art City event is linked to Arte Fiera Bologna 2023, a trade fair with a long tradition and now in its 46th edition.
In addition to exhibiting famous works of contemporary and modern art, Arte Fiera Bologna is the privileged stage for the launch of new emerging talents, who are able to gain further visibility for their work and merits here.
That is why Marca Corona chose this occasion for the awarding of the contest "Equilibrio Percettivo" for artists under 35 from all over the world.
As the synopsis of the contest states "opposing hues, complementary colours, what is saturated, what is neutral, the beauty of telling harmony through composition", the choice of the winner took into account the power of artistic storytelling under a harmonic point of view, where the individual becomes one and new perspectives open the way for a universal enjoyment of forms.
The winner was the duo of Isabella Nardon and Jacopo Noera with the work "Tutti giù per terra".
These are the reasons for the panel's award:
"The project looks at the contemporary, combining the terracotta symbol of the red clay of Sassuolo with the involvement of flags representing the body-state.
The reworking of the boundary idea - giving up an individual idea for a collective one - is in line with both today's priorities of society and the values of the Marca Corona company.
In this sense, the work recalls the 17th goal 'partnership for goals' of the SDGs, recalling the themes of group-family-people and authenticity-uniqueness-innovation also conveyed through Master Giuseppe Stampone's participatory Abecedario.
At the same time, we consider the design proposal very harmonious, with balanced colours and in assonance with the ceramic world"
Special mentions also went to four other artists who stood out in the shortlist for the award:
- Alliata with the work Topographic textures in Blue and Gold
- Barzaghi with the work Abbraccio
- Camerlengo with the work Tentativo No. 3578
- Zhang with the work Klotski
Presiding over the panel on the evening of Friday 3 February were such outstanding experts in the field of art as:
- Martina Bagnoli, Director, Gallerie Estensi, Modena
- curator and art critic Leonardo Caffo, former president of the scientific committee of R&P Contemporary Art
- Irene Biolchini, guest curator MIC Faenza
- Rosa Cascone, curator
- Daniele Crippa, collector, art critic and director of the Museo del Parco in Portofino, Contemporary Art Sculpture Museum
- Giuseppe Stampone, artist
- Sara Zambon, CEO, R&P Contemporary Art
- Parasite 2.0, collective of architects and design and research agency
In addition to the cash prize, the winning duo of Isabella Nardon and Jacopo Noera now has the opportunity to physically realise their proposed project, thanks to an artist's residency at Marca Corona. A two-way collaboration, with the intention of developing new mutual alliances between art and the corporate world.
The weekend of Art City Bologna 2023 turns blue with Giuseppe Stampone and Marca Corona
In the suggestive setting of Teatro S. Leonardo in Bologna, the weekend of Art City Bologna 2023 and Marca Corona was characterised by exclusive atmospheres, thanks to special artistic-sensorial performances.
Continuing on the path begun last October with Giuseppe Stampone's exhibition "nel Blu Dipinto", Marca Corona chooses contemporary art as the interpreter of the future, a future that passes through the enhancement of talent and people for a company with almost three centuries of history.
At Art City Bologna, the blue stroke of Stampone's unmistakable Bic pen becomes community and participation with Abecedario d'artista: 21 unpublished works created by Giuseppe Stampone in collaboration with Marca Corona's employees, representing the company's shared and collective identity.
We move from the universal to the individual and vice versa, encapsulating in 21 words and 21 images the vision of the individual leading to a collaborative and global culture.
This project is part of Giuseppe Stampone's "Global Education" initiative, which aims to shape the already "formal experience" of art through an informal process of discussion by the artist within a community from which he demands interaction and participation.
Alongside the exhibition Abecedario d'artista and the interactive video installation dedicated to the "Global Education" project, on the evening of Saturday 4 February Marca Corona's Art City White Night was enhanced by sound melodies resulting from craftsmanship and experimentation.
In the White Night of Museums, the sampling magician Filippo Økapi© appears with two live shows named "Cosmogonie".
Realised in collaboration with AngelicA - Centro di Ricerca Musicale and curated by Luca Vitali, these world premiere performances are the soul of contemporary electroacoustic research that reaches more cinematic, rhythmic and welcoming openings.
After Art City Bologna, the experience continues at Galleria Marca Corona
In Marca Corona our history continuously evolves, thanks to new inspirations that allow us to create always current trends.
The link with the world of art is part of our tradition and our almost three centuries of history. In this context, we chose to enhance the cultural heritage of the territory and the ceramic district to which we belong, through protection and promotion activities that find full expression in the Galleria Marca Corona.
The Art City Bologna 2023 experience therefore continues with all its innovation and creativity in our company museum.
Come and see Giuseppe Stampone's Abecedario d'artista live and discover the thousand-year history of ceramics in all its stages.
We look forward to "seeing" you there!
