Panorama Monopoli

The city-wide exhibition curated by Vincenzo de Bellis brought ancient, modern and contemporary art to the town of Monopoli.

Panorama Monopoli
“Panorama Monopoli”. Photo: Piero Percoco

12,000 visitors over four days admired the works of 60 artists spread throughout the city in 16 different exhibition venues. The second edition of the widespread exhibition “Panorama” was held in Monopoli (Bari) from Thursday, Sept. 1 to Sunday, Sept. 4, 2022, curated by Vincenzo de Bellis, Curator and Associate Director of Programs, Visual Arts at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, recently appointed as Director, Fairs and Exhibition Platforms of Art Basel.

“Panorama”, the special story that ITALICS dedicates periodically to some of the most extraordinary places in the Italian landscape, launched its first edition in 2021 on the wonderful island of Procida, offered a new itinerary of ancient and contemporary art and architecture, accompanied by a schedule of informative side events, performances and special projects open to the public.

S. Angelo in Borgo, Monopoli. Photo: Piero Percoco

“Panorama Monopoli” was conceived as a vast choral event inspired by the Greek concept of xenia. Each of the selected works made a contribution by offering multiple interpretations of universal themes that have been drivers of creativity for artists from different eras, and have engaged human minds for about seven centuries. For the Greeks, the term xenia summed up the meaning of hospitality and the relationship with the foreigner, governed by basic rules of behavior, such as the custom of paying homage to the guest with a “farewell gift” to testify that he had enjoyed his visit. In a sense, xenia is a form of ritualized friendship based on reciprocity.

Porto Antico, Monopoli. Photo: Piero Percoco

The itinerary of “Panorama Monopoli” was planned to harmoniously work with the architecture and natural landscape, inviting viewers to lose themselves in the formal solutions and different themes. The stagings encouraged multiple dialogues between artists of different generations or eras, alternating with monographic presentations dedicated to contemporary artists.

The exhibition itinerary encompassed the ancient historic center of the Adriatic town and entails twenty exhibition venues, including the main churches of the village, such as the Church and former monastery of Santi Giuseppe e Anna, with its wonderful majolica floor; the nerve centers in the urban fabric, such as Piazza Palmieri, hosted a performance; Piazzetta Santa Maria and Largo Castello, and the more intimate spaces of the Cloisters, alleys, gates and votive aedicules in the lanes of the historic center housed site-specific installations.

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Castello Carlo V, Monopoli. Photo: Piero Percoco

Among palaces, churches, squares, votive aedicules hidden in alleys and chiassi, the exhibition presented 70 works from the 15th century to the present, created by 60 international artists from different eras, generations and nationalities: Mario Airò (Pavia, Italy, 1961), Francesco Arena (Torre Santa Susanna, Brindisi, Italy, 1978), Stefano Arienti (Asola, Mantua, Italy, 1961), Gianfranco Baruchello (Livorno, Italy, 1924), Luca Bertolo (Milan, Italy, 1968), Paolo Bini (Battipaglia, Salerno, Italy, 1984), Alighiero Boetti (Turin, Italy, 1940 – Rome, Italy, 1994), Pier Paolo Calzolari (Bologna, Italy, 1943), Duilio Cambellotti (Rome, Italy, 1876 – 1960), Mariana Castillo Deball (Mexico City, Mexico, 1975), Adelaide Cioni (Bologna, Italy, 1976), Pietro Consagra (Mazara del Vallo, Trapani, 1920 – Milan, Italy, 2005), Maria Adele Del Vecchio (Caserta, Italy, 1976), Gaia Di Lorenzo (Rome, Italy, 1991), Nathalie Djurberg & Hans Berg (Lysekil, Sweden, 1978 / Rättvik, Sweden, 1978), Mimosa Echard (Alès, France, 1986), Sam Falls (San Diego, CA, United States, 1984), Matteo Fato (Pescara, Italy, 1979), Cesare Fracanzano (Bisceglie, Barletta-Andria-Trani, Italy, 1605 – Barletta, Barletta-Andria-Trani, Italia, 1651), Massimo Grimaldi (Taranto, Italy, 1974), Edi Hila (Shkodra, Albania, 1944), Judith Hopf (Karlsruhe, Germany, 1969), Adelita Husni-Bey (Milan, Italy, 1985), Alfredo Jaar (Santiago del Chile, Chile, 1956), Ann Veronica Janssens (Folkestone, United Kingdom, 1956), Runo Lagomarsino (Lund, Sweden, 1977), Giovanni Lanfranco (Parma, Italy, 1582 – Rome, Italy, 1647), Francesco Laurana and Nicola Samorì (Vrana, Croatia, 1430 – Avignon, France, 1502 / Forlì, Italy, 1977), Jieun Lim (Seoul, South Korea, 1983), Lorenzo Lippi (Florence, Italy, 1606 – 1665), Carlo Manieri (Taranto, Italy, 1633 – Rome, Italy, 1702), Franca Maranò (Bari, Italy, 1920 – Bari, Italy, 2015), Richard Marquis & Johanna Nitzke Marquis (Bumble Bee, AZ, United States, 1945 /  Northern Wisconsin, WI, United States, 1947), Mario Merz (Milan, Italy, 1925 – 2003), Marisa Merz (Turin, Italy, 1926 – 2019), Luzie Meyer (Tübingen, Germany, 1990), Diego Miguel Mirabella (Enna, Italy, 1988), François Morellet (Cholet, France, 1926 – 2016), Valerio Nicolai (Gorizia, Italy, 1988), Alessandro Piangiamore (Enna, Italy, 1976), Michelangelo Pistoletto (Biella, Italy, 1933), Gianni Politi (Rome, Italy,1986), Nathlie Provosty (Cincinnati, OH, United States, 1981), Giangiacomo Rossetti (Milan, Italy, 1989), Medardo Rosso (Turin, Italy, 1858 – Milan, Italy, 1928), Mimmo Rotella (Catanzaro, Italy, 1918 – Milan, Italy, 2006), Antonio Sanfilippo (Partanna, Trapani, Italy, 1923 – Rome, Italy, 1980), Alberto Savinio (Athens, Greece, 1891 – Rome, Italy, 1952), Aviva Silverman (New York, NY, United States, 1986), Carl-August-Wilhelm Sommer (Coburg, Germany, 1839 – 1921), Eugenio Tibaldi (Alba, Cuneo, Italy, 1977), Patrick Tuttofuoco (Milan, Italy, 1974), Massimo Vitali (Como, Italy, 1944), Luca Vitone (Genoa, Italy, 1964), Stanley Whitney (Philadelphia, PA, United States, 1946), Antonio Zanchi (Padua, Italy, 1631 – Venice, Italy, 1722).

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Seven performances wowed the public, involving people in one-of-a-kind activities and experiences.  

In the full Italics spirit of offering authentic experiences to discover the traditions and soul of the territory that is hosting the multi-venue exhibition, a symbolic act kicked off Panorama Monopoli: participation in an event held every year in Cala di Porta Vecchia. At dawn on September 1, in Cala di Porta Vecchia, Massimo Vitali offered the public the unique opportunity to take part in a traditional rite widespread among the inhabitants of some municipalities of the Costa dei Trulli and Valle d’Itria, considered auspicious: a ritual and symbolic collective plunge into the sea, immortalized by his camera as an everlasting testimony of this magical moment and a continuation of the photographic series on Italian beaches.

Each day at the Complex of San Leonardo, Franca Maranò‘s “Abiti mentali” (1977) were reactivated, while in the afternoon visitors were regaled with tales focusing on the traditions of southern Italy by Maria Adele Del Vecchio with “En ce temps-là” (2020-22). Adelita Husni-Bey‘s individual sessions mapped out the pain of each of the participants in “Encounters on Pain” (2016-ongoing). Francesco Arena’s “Altalena” (2022), on the other hand, suggested novel, unusual perspectives by swinging between centuries of art in the comparison between Lorenzo Lippi‘s “Madonna con il bambino e San Giovannino” (1606-65) and Marisa Merz‘s work, “Untitled” (undated) in the Church of San Nicola de Pinna in the underground part of Castello Carlo V. New patterns of aggregation and spontaneous design were generated with informal poker games held by Eugenio Tibaldi in “Cuba casinò” in the Cloisters of Palazzo San Martino.

Finally, Michelangelo Pistoletto orchestrated a grand collective celebration, with marching bands, the Banda del Giubileo, passing through city alleys and the creation of a “Third Paradise” at Largo Palmieri, where the phrase “Love Difference” in different languages turned the square into an open-air dance floor.

As with the previous edition, ITALICS came up with two special projects this year as well.

The first was the awarding of the Italics d’Oro to commemorate the career of an artist so fundamental to the local area, Lisetta Carmi (Genoa, 1924 – Cisternino (BA), 2022). The prize was presented on Thursday, September 1, 2022, at the end of the press conference to Gianni Martini, as President of the Lisetta Carmi Estate and Archive. Lisetta Carmi’s work was featured in an exhibition developed in collaboration with the international photography and art festival PhEST – See Beyond the Sea, which included a selection of never-before-seen shots taken in 1960 between Puglia and Basilicata.

Panorama Monopoli tote bag conceived by Francesco Arena. Foto Piero Percoco

The second project involved an invitation to artist Francesco Arena to create symbols that would accompany “Panorama” and its visitors during the entire exhibition, but also at the end of the exhibition. These were seen on the tote bags and manufactured by Bonotto and on the t-shirts worn by the cultural mediators, students and teachers from the Liceo Artistico Luigi Russo, Monopoli, whose efforts were indispensable in guiding visitors in discovering the works on display.

Panorama Monopoli t-shirt by Francesco Arena worn by the cultural mediators from Liceo Artistico Luigi Russo. Foto: Piero Percoco

The “Panorama Monopoli” Public Program was devised in conjunction with Treccani Arte and entitled “Puglia e le arti“. A calendar of three morning appointments at the Porto Antico to hear the views of special guests on the relationship between the region and the languages of contemporaneity. Massimo Bray, Editorial Director of the Istituto dell’Enciclopedia Italiana, founded by Giovanni Treccani in conversation with Vincenzo de Bellis kicked off the cycle, followed by Eva Degl’Innocenti, director of the Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Taranto and the Musei Comunali, Bologna, and Sergio Rubini, actor, director and screenwriter.

“Panorama Monopoli” has been reconfirmed as a unique exhibition experience. An exhibition designed as the emanation of ITALICS, designed to bring together ancient, modern and contemporary styles, techniques and multiple thoughts in art itineraries that will take the viewer to discover the most authentic and little known aspects of our country, a live continuation of the extraordinary journey that began in 2020 on the web pages of this platform.

“Panorama Monopoli” was realized under the patronage of the UNESCO, the Ministry of Culture, the support of the Department of Tourism, Economy of Culture and Valorization of the Territory of the Puglia Region and the Departments of Culture and Tourism of the Municipality of Monopoli.

Belmond has joined ITALICS as main partner to support the Consortium activities and “Panorama Monopoli”. Developing its long and successful hospitality and leisure tradition, Belmond has always devoted attention and care to the heritage and history of the Countries where it operates. The partnership with ITALICS will aim to the common objective of promoting Italy and its territory through art, inviting the public to see the culture and beauty spread throughout the country with a different point of view.

After having supported the first edition in Procida in 2021, Tod’s reconfirmed its support as Partner of the second edition of “Panorama”.
Tod’s chooses to continue along the path already begun with the desire to give continuity to the cultural projects of ITALICS consortium with which it shares an interest in the enhancement of the Italian territory and the important cultural work expressed by the over 60 art galleries involved in the project.
This year, Tod’s support is also enriched by a project, in collaboration with young artists, aimed at developing new artworks on the theme “Timeless”.

The Panorama Monopoli Public Program was organized in collaboration with Treccani Arte.

Panorama Monopoli was realized with the special participation of Liceo Artistico Luigi Russo; thanks to all students, teachers and Headmaster Adolfo Marciano, who contributed to the cultural event.

Media Partner: Il Giornale dell’Arte

Porto Antico, Monopoli. Photo: Piero Percoco

Featured Artists

Mario Airò, Francesco Arena, Stefano Arienti, Gianfranco Baruchello, Luca Bertolo, Paolo Bini, Alighiero Boetti, Pier Paolo Calzolari, Duilio Cambellotti, Adelaide Cioni, Pietro Consagra, Mariana Castillo Deball, Maria Adele Del Vecchio, Gaia Di Lorenzo, Nathalie Djurberg & Hans Berg, Mimosa Echard, Sam Falls, Matteo Fato, Cesare Fracanzano, Massimo Grimaldi, Edi Hila, Judith Hopf, Adelita Husni-Bey, Alfredo Jaar, Ann Veronica Janssens, Runo Lagomarsino, Giovanni Lanfranco, Francesco Laurana and Nicola Samorì, Jieun Lim, Lorenzo Lippi, Carlo Manieri, Franca Maranò, Richard Marquis & Johanna Nitzke Marquis, Mario Merz, Marisa Merz, Luzie Meyer, Diego Miguel Mirabella, François Morellet, Valerio Nicolai, Alessandro Piangiamore, Michelangelo Pistoletto, Gianni Politi, Nathlie Provosty, Medardo Rosso, Giangiacomo Rossetti, Mimmo Rotella, Antonio Sanfilippo, Alberto Savinio, Aviva Silverman, Carl August Wilhelm Sommer, Eugenio Tibaldi, Patrick Tuttofuoco, Luca Vitone, Massimo Vitali, Stanley Whitney, Antonio Zanchi.

Participating Galleries

A arte Invernizzi; ADA; Galerie Rolando Anselmi, Roma | Berlin; APALAZZOGALLERY; Alfonso Artiaco; Bottegantica; Galleria Tommaso Calabro; Galleria Canesso; Cardi Gallery; Clima; GALLERIA CONTINUA; Galleria Raffaella Cortese; Monica De Cardenas; MASSIMODECARLO; Galleria Tiziana Di Caro; Alessandra Di Castro; Galleria Umberto Di Marino; Ermes Ermes; Fanta-MLN; Gagosian; Galleria dello Scudo; Giacometti Old Master Paintings; Gió Marconi; kaufmann repetto; Laveronica Arte Contemporanea; Galleria Lia Rumma; Magazzino; Martina Simeti; Mazzoleni, London – Torino; Francesca Minini; Galleria Massimo Minini; Monitor Roma, Lisbona, Pereto; Moretti Fine Art; Maurizio Nobile; Galleria Franco Noero; Galleria Lorcan O’Neill; Carlo Orsi; P420; Peola Simondi; Giorgio Persano; Pinksummer; Galleria Porcini; Richard Saltoun Gallery; Galleria Russo; Studio SALES di Norberto Ruggeri; Schiavo Zoppelli Gallery; SpazioA; Studio Trisorio; Caterina Tognon Arte Contemporanea; Tornabuoni Arte; TUCCI RUSSO Studio per l’Arte Contemporanea; Galleria Federico Vavassori; VEDA; Galleria Carlo Virgilio & C.; Vistamare | Milano, Pescara; ZERO…

Panorama Monopoli

Under the Patronage of

Main partner

Partner

Technical Sponsors

Events Technical Sponsor

Public Program in collaboration with

Media Partner

With the Special Participation of

Panorama Monopoli Team

A Project by Italics

Curated by Vincenzo de Bellis

Curatorial Coordination e Production
Stefania Scarpini

General Coordination
ArtsFor_

Strategic Consulting
Camilla Invernizzi

Communication and Editorial Coordination
Carlotta Poli

Production Coordination
Francesca Verga

Production
Maria Stradoni, Pierfederica Verdegiglio

Graphic Design
Leftloft

External Relations
Damiana Leoni
damiana@damianaleoni.com

Press Office
PCM Studio di Paola C. Manfredi
press@paolamanfredi.com

In collaboration with the Municipality of Monopoli
Mayor: Angelo Annese
Departments of Culture and Tourism: Rosanna Perricci, Cristian Iaia
Event Coordination: Pietro D’Amico, Manager of Organisational Area I
Operating Staff A.O.I: Antonio Todero, Giorgio Spada 
Press Office: Sandro Scarafino

For more info info@italics.art

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Panorama Monopoli presentation in Venice

Isola di San Giorgio, Venice, 2022. Photo: Masiar Pasquali

During the 59th International Art Exhibition, the Venice Biennale, the new edition of Panorama Monopoli was presented in the Abbey of San Giorgio Maggiore.

VIEW THE PRESENTATION IN VENICE

Panorama Procida 2021

Panorama Procida
Procida, 2021. Photo: Barbara Rossi
DISCOVER THE FIRST EDITION OF PANORAMA