8 Italian galleries together to participate in Art Basel Hong Kong
In Hong Kong, 8 Italian galleries join forces to support art and the “made in Italy” market
On the occasion of the next edition of Art Basel Hong Kong, which will be held from 21 to 23 May 2021, the Italian Cultural Institute in Hong Kong presents a project to support art and the Italian market: Italians, a booth made up of eight Italian galleries exhibiting modern and contemporary Italian artists.
“The Italian galleries present in the stand supported by the IIC – says the director Stefano Fossati – are the majority of those that normally participate in Art Basel. We remind you that the exhibition organization is very selective and only accepts galleries that have distinguished themselves, at an international level, for their cultural commitment and that guarantee rigorous management transparency. It is not very common for a national cultural institution to support Italian art in a market context; however, I believe that the crisis we are experiencing requires innovative choices, also taking into account the repeated calls from our Government to support the internationalization of Italian companies.“
The idea of the project stems from the need to overcome the difficulties imposed by the pandemic in terms of economic crisis, logistics and travel – reasons that led to the postponement of the fair in 2020 and which made it mainly Asian.
The unprecedented crisis that Italian art galleries are going through was once again denounced by the trade association ANGAMC, which in a letter to Minister Franceschini highlighted the need to implement strategies to support a sector that actively operates in the contemporary sector and involves over 10,000 professionals.
In order not to give up the new edition of Art Basel, the Italian galleries have decided to network to be able to bring artistic excellence to China which, as the recent Artnet Art & Tech Report shows, currently represents the heart of the world art market.
The eight galleries participating in Italians are: Alfonso Artiaco, Cardi Gallery, Galleria Continua, MASSIMO DE CARLO, Galleria D’Arte Maggiore, Rossi&Rossi, Mazzoleni, Galleria Franco Noero.
These offer a parterre of artists ranging from Giorgio Morandi and Lucio Fontana to masters of Arte Povera such as Michelangelo Pistoletto, Giulio Paolini and Giovanni Anselmo, from champions of the Transavantgarde such as Nicola De Maria to internationally successful living artists such as Paola Pivi and Francesco Vezzoli.
And then again Getulio Alviani, Massimo Antonaci, Bertozzi & Casoni, Alberto Biasi, Agostino Bonalumi, Vittoria Chierici, Lara Favaretto, Martino Gamper, Gian Marco Montesano, Luigi Ontani, Serse and Elisa Sighicelli.
Italians is part of a larger project aimed at supporting and promoting Italian art in the world: Italian Style, coordinated by Stefano Fossati, director of the Institute, and curated by Fabio Cavallucci, last year Chief Curator of the Bi-City Biennale of Architecture and Urban Planning of Hong Kong and Shenzhen.
With a series of exhibitions, conferences and initiatives, Italian Style celebrates the relationship between Italian art, design and fashion, exploring that “Italian style” that stands out among all in terms of quality, refinement and harmony between shapes and colors clearly visible in any form of art “made in Italy”.
Photo Credits: Chant Avedissian at Sabrina Amrani @ Art Basel Hong Kong
