MADRE RUSSIA
GROUP SHOW OF RUSSIAN CONTEMPORARY PHOTOGRAPHY
Museo Civico, Asolo
from august 18 to september 16
saturday and sunday: 10.00-12.00 | 15.00-20.00
monday to friday (only from 18 al 29 august): 18.00-20.00

Group exhibition of contemporary photography, which focuses on women and their role and representation in Russian society. A journey through everyday life, dreams and aesthetics. The selection of different projects comes from the need to gather evidence of a variety of interpretations on the female world at the time of profound social transformations in Russia. The role of women is seen as a mirror of the right to freedom and emancipation. The exhibition represents a unique opportunity to observe and compare the interpretations of 11 contemporary Russian authors: Nikita Pigorov, Anastasia Khoroshilova, Anastasia Tailakova, Max Sher, Igor Starkov, Katerina Belkina, Sasha Rudelsky, Olya Ivanova, Alla Esipovich, Margo Ovcharenko, Anna Kharina.

 

MADRE RUSSIA
‘Prisoners’
EXHIBITION BY OLGA CHAGAOUTDINOVA
Exhibition rooms Gobbato, Asolo
from august 18 to september 29
from monday to sunday: 10.00-12.00 | 18.00-23.00

The solo exhibition by Olga Chagaoutdinova is linked to the parallel collective photography exhibition. It includes a series of portraits of Russian female prisoners and a video installation. The series “prisoners,” that begun in 2005 and went on for two years, consists of psychological portraits taken in a women’s prison in the Russian Far East. The intent of the project is to observe human existence in a panoptic and punishing environment. Long interviews with the prisoners have allowed the artist to investigate the notion of personal identity, virtually extinguished under the pressure and rules of the penal system. Gender issues and the official suppression of sexuality within the penitentiary system constitute a further aspect of her study.

 

MADRE RUSSIA
‘Generations of Winter’
INSTALLATION BY POLINA PAKHOMOVA
Museo Gipsoteca, Possagno
from august 18 to september 16
saturday and sunday.: 10.00-12.00 | 15.00-18.00
tuesday to friday: (open from 18 to 29 august): 15.00-18.00

‘Generations of Winter’ is a new visual interpretation of a historical novel, written by V. Aksyonov. Stalin’s repressions and The Great Terror theme have been chosen as the main subject for a new visual response. The images and names recall people who
were repressed and executed or died in prison camps during Stalin’s Great Terror time. Erasing or disfiguring were one of the forms of falsification that Stalin’s system widely used. People have been erased not only physically during ‘Purges’, but also
from our history and memories. [Polina Pakhomova]

 

MADRE RUSSIA
‘Two Men’
INSTALLATION BY STEFANO SECONETTI SECONE
Museo Gipsoteca, Possagno
from august 18 to september 16
from monday to sunday: 10.00-12.00 | 18.00-23.00
tuesday to friday: (open from 18 to 29 august): 15.00-18.00
A country, a place, two men. The tale of a journey through Europe that bridges two different lives so far apart. Antonio Canova, the famous neo-classical artist that through his work, still exhibited at the Hermitage in St. Petersburg, reached Russia at the time of the Tsars. Over a century after, Giovanni Mussato, a soldier of the Italian army retreats from the Russian front, began to walk back home through a long and dramatic journey. The paintings bring together the stories of these two men today, on a single narrative level and in the place where they both lived.

 

MADRE RUSSIA
‘A journey’
INSTALLATION IN TRIBUTE TO JOSIF BRODSKY
Torre Reata, Asolo
from august 18 to august 29
from monday to sunday: 10.00-12.00 | 18.00-23.00
A captivating audio-visual installation dedicated to the memory of the Russian poet and Nobel laureate in Literature Joseph Brodsky.

 

‘In Memory of Francesco Conz’
BETWEEN HERMANN NITSCH AND NAM JUNE PAIK
Exhibition room at Theatre Eleonora Duse, Asolo
from august 18 to august 29
from monday to sunday: 10.00-12.00 | 18.00-23.00
Artist and prophet, visionary publisher and collector, Francesco Conz is remembered for his extraordinary contribution given to Fluxus and other avant-garde movements. Edizioni Conz, established in 1972, represented from its beginning the core of the Archives F. Conz, thanks to which many international artists came to Asolo. The installation, along with the 2012 “Art and Culture” Prize, is a tribute to the artist who died in 2010. The exhibition hosts a famous work by Hermann Nitsch and a special Francesco Conz’s edition dedicated to the performance realised in Asolo by Nam June Paik and Charlotte Moorman.

 

‘Still Life: London’
VIDEO INSTALLATION BY WYLLIE O HAGAN
Galleria Browning, Asolo
from august 18 to august 29
from monday to sunday: 10.00-12.00 | 18.00-23.00
“Still Life: London” explores a quest for stillness in a hectic world. Two screens project moving images with a piano score. One screen shows a personal collection of serene, quiet life objects, carefully chosen and composed, revealed at a contemplative pace. The second screen shows abstract energetic lines wildly drawn with light.

 

PERFORMANCE DI FABRIZIO SAIU
Tempio Antonio Canova, Possagno
saturday 25 august at 20:00
Sometimes, the severity of ‘thinking’ applies a perceptible pressure, almost palpable, on our actions. The work of Fabrizio Saiu focuses on the relationship between movement and matter, which find a synthesis in a silent gesture. Facing the Temple of Antonio Canova, in a historical and environmental context, the artist binds his body to 54 cymbals, in all 70 kg of weight, and over 450 meters of ropes.

 

 

technical support: Gianandrea Gazzola
dress design for the performance: Veronica Salvini
Photo by: Giovanni Mantovani