Artissima 18

For the second year in a row, Artissima launches under the artistic direction of Francesco Manacorda, who revisits features introduced last year. Artissima 18 will be held at the spectacular Oval, an architecturally innovative pavilion with 20,000 m² of naturally lit space made for the Winter Olympic Games of Turin 2006.

The Fair
Artissima 18 will be the venue for 161 galleries (58 Italian and 103 from other countries) in four sections: Main Section (which includes the most representative galleries on the international art scene), New Entries (the most interesting young galleries that have been working for less than five years, and that are taking part in Artissima for the first time. This year, 25 galleries from 11 different countries have been admitted), Present Future (devoted to 16 emerging artists invited by a team of international curators. This section is being set up with the cooperation of illycaffè), and Back to the Future (launched in 2010 with the aim of focusing on artists who worked in the 1960s and '70s and who have enjoyed little recognition in recent decades, but whose work is particularly significant today).

Approssimazioni Razionali Semplici
This year the curatorial programme consists of two different projects, which are independent and yet inextricably linked one to the other: the first, titled Approssimazioni Razionali Semplici (Simple Rational Approximations) will take place inside the Fair, while the other, titled Artissima LIDO, will be held outside, in the evenings only. Both projects concentrate on new models and formats for the production, interpretation and circulation of contemporary art. For the first time at the fair, the projects will be curated by artists.

The Curatorial Project
Artissima 18 is continuing its research into the future scenario of museums, which started up last year with the Casa delle contaminazioni (The House of Contamination). This year the programme consists of two different projects, which are independent and yet inextricably linked one to the other: the first will take place inside the Fair, while the other will be held outside, in the evenings only. Both projects concentrate on new models and formats for the production, interpretation and circulation of contemporary art. For the first time at a fair, they will be curated by artists.

Simple Rational Approximations
At the centre of the Artissima pavilion, Simple Rational Approximations is a project for a museum invented by the Turin-born artist Lara Favaretto working with Francesco Manacorda. The title of the project is taken from a mathematical model that defines an interpolation—in other words, the approximate calculation of values of magnitude using known values—which uses rational functions. An approximation, which derives etymologically from "to come near", also suggests the underlying theme of the project, which brings together different ideas and attitudes, proposing a fictitious, ephemeral, nomadic organisation that will exist only for the four days of the fair. This "provisional institution" will be modelled on some of the traditional functions of contemporary-art museums—a permanent collection, temporary exhibitions, a library, a cinema and conference hall, an educational department, and archives—rethinking their way of working through a selection of existing projects or new proposals submitted by individuals, collectives, and institutions, who will be selected from the international art world for their inventive ability to re-imagine operational and planning methods.

Artissima LIDO
For the first time, this year Artissima will be organising a programme of exhibitions and events in the centre of Turin, outside the fair and outside of its opening hours. In the mediaeval district of the "Roman Quadrilateral", a number of not-for-profit spaces run by artists from all over Italy will temporarily move out to a series of city spaces, where they will work on their various experimental activities, at the same time and in the same place. The project intends to create and illustrate a network of spaces and collectives that are often the only organisations that actively promote artistic experimentation in their areas. The aim is to put the international spotlight on a relatively unknown aspect of Italy and of its hidden artistic scene. Imagined as a group exhibition of experimental spaces, Artissima LIDO will be curated by three Italian artists, Christian Frosi, Renato Leotta, and Diego Perrone, and it will offer a very full, varied calendar of exhibitions, performances, screenings, concerts, and conversations in specially chosen places. The starting point for a walk through the neighbourhood will be the Artissima Social Club, a temporary establishment where the art world and visitors to the Fair will be able to meet each evening.

'We're working on the experimental mission, and on the innovative potential and international dimension of Artissima through a meticulous curatorial format that will be building on last year's project', says Francesco Manacorda. 'Our policy is one of continuation and in-depth examination, without depriving the Fair of its many innovative and spectacular elements. The aim is to create an up-to-the-minute project that can bring out the very best in Artissima, combining business and cultural values, and making this event a powerhouse of the contemporary arts and the ideal meeting place for all those involved.'