PRESS RELEASE
Imago Mundi ‒ Luciano Benetton Collection
The Art of Humanity
Contemporary African Art from Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gambia,
Kenya, Morocco, Mauritania, Mozambique, Senegal, Somalia, South
Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Tunisia, Zanzibar, Zimbabwe.
Sixteen countries, 13 collections, more than 2,000 artists with
10x12 centimetre artworks. An unprecedented and rich artistic
portrait of Africa, among historical roots and innovation, local
visual cultures and globalization.
Rome, Museo Carlo Bilotti ‒ Aranciera di Villa Borghese
20 November, 2014 - 11 January, 2015
“Until the lion tells his own story, tales of the hunt will
always glorify the hunter” Imago Mundi, the global art project
sponsored by Luciano Benetton and the Fondazione Benetton Studi
Ricerche, has embraced this evocative metaphor, much valued by
Nigerian writer Chinua Achebe, bringing together 13 contemporary
art collections from 16 African countries. The result is an
unprecedented, rich and fascinating visual story created
exclusively by African artists, established names and young
talents: a contribution to the reflection on an African aesthetic,
which, overcoming prejudices and stereotypes, represents the
ethnic, social, geographic and cultural diversities of an entire
continent.
The contemporary collections from Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia,
Gambia, Kenya, Morocco, Mauritania, Mozambique, Senegal, Somalia,
South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Tunisia, Zanzibar, Zimbabwe – over
2,000 10x12cm artworks, assembled under the title The Art of
Humanity – will be exhibited in Rome from 20 November, 2014 to
11 January, 2015 at the Museo Carlo Bilotti (Aranciera di Villa
Borghese), in collaboration with Roma Capitale, the Department
of Culture, Creativity and Artistic Promotion – Superintendent
Capitolina of Cultural Heritage, and the Italian Ministry of
Foreign Affairs.
“This exhibition is a journey across a continent that is both
young and ancient, whose art – heterogeneous, hybrid, intense
- can be a driver of the development of African communities and
an urgent solicitation to refresh the Western aesthetic,” says
Luciano Benetton. “Looking at these works, the secret of their all
encompassing beauty manifests itself in our minds as a dazzling
revelation: African art moves, unsettles, engages, sets in motion.
I believe that from ancient roots, the work of these African
artists tell us of the world to come.”
With this exhibition, Imago Mundi has the important task of
representing the decisive role of art and culture in the
development of the African continent, as part of the Italy-Africa
initiative, a project promoted by the Italian Ministry of Foreign
Affairs, which will conclude with a Ministerial Conference in 2015.
The exhibition in Rome, a sum of styles, ferment, voices and
stories, creations of different African countries, represents a
new leg on the journey of the Imago Mundi project. The main
ambition is to build and pass on to future generations a visual
map of human cultures, promoting the artists through catalogues,
the imagomundiart.com web platform, and participation in
international events and exhibitions, in collaboration with public
and private organizations, including the Venice Biennale in 2013,
Dak'Art Off and the Casa dei Carraresi Museum in Treviso in 2014.
Until 25th January 2015, Imago Mundi will be present with an
exhibition at the Noma of New Orleans (Louisiana, United States)
and, also in early 2015, at the Winter Palace of the Belvedere
Museum in Vienna.
Imago Mundi ‒ The Art of Humanity
Museo Carlo Bilotti ‒ Aranciera di Villa Borghese
viale Fiorello La Guardia 6, Rome
20 November, 2014 - 11 January, 2015
Tuesday to Friday, 10 am - 4 pm
Saturday and Sunday, 10 am - 7 pm
last entry 30 minutes before closing time
free entry
For more information
Martina Fornasaro
External Relations, Imago Mundi – Luciano Benetton Collection
+39 338 6233915
martina.fornasaro@imagomundiart.com
Gabriella Gnetti
Press Office, Zètema Progetto Cultura
+39 06 82077305 +39 348 2696259
g.gnetti@zetema.it
www.imagomundiart.com