Association Genesi | Art and Human Rights
Association Genesi
presents
PROGETTO GENESI.
Art and Human Rights
Curated by Ilaria Bernardi
21 September 2021 – 21 September 2022
Starting on September 21, 2021, Association Genesi will starts Progetto Genesi. Art and Human Rights, curated by Ilaria Bernardi: it is a cross-disciplinary, inclusive project lasting a whole year that combines exhibition and educational events with the aim of offering a permanent education on the matter of human rights.
It comprises a vast program that includes educational activities addressed to a public of all ages, a cycle of twelve online conversations in collaboration with the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, and a traveling exhibition, in collaboration with FAI – FONDO PER L’AMBIENTE ITALIANO, of the Collezione Genesi, Associazione Genesi’s collection of contemporary art. The works are by artists from around the world, and they are aimed to encourage a reflection on the most dramatic issues of our day and age.
The idea from which the conception of Progetto Genesi stems is that contemporary art can assume the role of ambassador of human rights. Conceived as interdisciplinary and multimedia, because of the radical nature of its engagement, the vast scope of the horizons, and the breadth of initiatives it includes, Progetto Genesi represents a veritable unicum in the contemporary art system, and one not limited to Italy alone.
Associazione Genesi, founded in 2020 at the behest of Letizia Moratti, is committed to the defense of human rights by enhancing the different cultures and the environment. The Associazione’s mission is to contribute, through contemporary art, to the creation of a more responsible and socially active citizenry. Associazione Genesi created Collezione Genesi, under the curatorship of Clarice Pecori Giraldi, selecting artworks by artists from around the world and from different generations, which reflect on the urgent, complex, and at times dramatic cultural, environmental, social, and political issues of today.
Il cuore di Progetto Genesi è costituito da un vivace gioco di rispecchiamenti tra iniziative parallele, fondato proprio sulla peculiarità della Collezione e della missione dell’Associazione. Ilaria Bernardi è stata chiamata a concepire un progetto che fosse in grado di tradurre nella realtà l’ambiziosa vocazione della Collezione, di farsi ambasciatrice di valori attorno a cui creare conoscenza e coinvolgimento.
Il progetto messo a punto è composito e interdisciplinare, si basa sulla sincronia tra momento espositivo e momento formativo, e disegna un arco temporale preciso della durata di un anno, dal 21 settembre 2021 al 21 settembre 2022.
The exhibition segment consists of a traveling exhibition, curated by Ilaria Bernardi, of the artworks in the Collezione Genesi that will travel across Italy from North to South, hosted by four different cities: Varese, Assisi, Matera and Agrigento. The cities chosen are all important from an art-historical and environmental standpoint, and they are listed among the UNESCO World Heritage Sites as well as the property of FAI.
The first stop takes place in Varese where the Collezione Genesi will be exhibited at Villa e Collezione Panza, property of FAI, from September 21 to December 8, 2021. The exhibition will then travel to Assisi, Matera and Agrigento where the Collezione Genesi will be on display in an art museum that is steeped in a strong sense of identity for the city, thus valorizing the local cultural heritage and at the same time promoting new short-circuits between the works in the collection, rigorously contemporary ones and coming from around the world. but especially from non-Western cultures, and those in the host museum’s permanent collections, including ancient and modern art prevalently of European origin. In parallel, one work in the collection, rather than in the chosen museum, will be presented in one of FAI’s properties in the area or FAI-related property, underscoring the close collaboration and synergy with FAI in the dissemination of this initiative.
The exhibition segment of Progetto Genesi traces a highly symbolic temporal pathway: in each city the exhibition will open its doors on the occasion of an important International or World Day established by the UN to promote topics linked to human rights: in Varese on September 21 International Day of Peace; in Assisi on December 18 International Migrants Day; in Matera on March 8 International Women’s Day; in Agrigento on June 5 World Environment Day.
Art and Human Rights will offer a cycle free of charge of twelve conversations online titled Sfide per il futuro (Challenges for the Future), curated by Ilaria Bernardi, and organized in collaboration with the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore. The conversations will be streamed, on a monthly basis, at the same time (5:30 pm), for the entire duration of Progetto Genesi, on the Associazione Genesi Facebook and YouTube pages and on its website, and on the Facebook, YouTube and LinkedIn pages of the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore.
The cycle of conversations is preceded by a speech on human rights, entrusted to Marcello Flores, to be held in Milan at the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore on September 21, 2021, at 10 am, as part of a Progetto Genesi presentation event, including the press conference and the screening of the short film Omelia Contadina (2020) by the director Alice Rohrwacher and the artist JR. The film will be visible to the public, at the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, free of charge, until 5 October 2021, in the atrium of the Aula Pio XI from Monday to Friday from 10.00 to 18.00. The presentation will also be streamed on the Facebook, YouTube and LinkedIn pages of the Genesi Association and on the Facebook, YouTube and LinkedIn pages of the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore.
A fundamental part of Progetto Genesi is also the educational activity, distributed in a rich programme of guided tours and inclusive and participatory workshops, both in the exhibition venues and online, for children, young people and adults. The educational programme aims to bring together a wide and heterogeneous public, to generate links with the community and the world of schools, so that the exhibition is recognised as a public space for exchanges and relationships.
For the entire duration of Progetto Genesi, a thematic, visual and conceptual counter-song will be created to support it, animating the social channels (Facebook and Instagram), with information and involvement campaigns designed to generate an exchange based on interaction with the public, especially the young, on the theme of human rights.
Project Genesis will end in Rome, exactly one year after its inception, on 21 September 2022, with the organisation of a major closing event.
