Congress “Art Brut: study day in Celestial Epics exhibition”

Bruno Decharme and Barbara Safarova organised a day of study on the theme of Art Brut, as part of the Celestial Epics exhibition scheduled until 19 May 2024. Friday 3 May, in the exhibition rooms and Grand Salon of the French Academy in Rome – Villa Medici, the major specialists on the topic from France, Italy and Switzerland will gather for an exceptional symposium created by Gustavo Giacosa.

The program, divided into two sessions, will focus in the morning – from 11:00 to 13:45 – on the theme of Art Brut, historical perspective and contemporary issues: the speakers will be Sarah Lombardi (La Collection de l’Art Brut di Lausanne: origin and evolution over time); Barbara Safarova (Exhibiting art brut: from Jean Dubuffet to Harald Szeemann and beyond…); Céline Gazzoletti (Chimeras, ghosts and spirits: rough authors, extralucent artists?); Barbara Safarova (Art brut: the art of calculation, the art of building labyrinths) and Cristina Agostinelli (Writings and images of dissidence).

The contents debated in the afternoon – from 3.00pm to 5.30pm – will instead have as their topic Art Brut in Italy, between revelation and repair and will be illustrated by Lisa Roscioni (Art brut before art brut seen by Italian psychiatrists between nineteenth and twentieth centuries); Fiorella Bassan (Beyond utility: the “furniture” of Eugenio Lenzi and Antonio Tolomei); Claudio Zambianchi (Carlo Zinelli: a critical reading) and Gustavo Giacosa (Art brut and studio creation: an oxymoron?).

The event, created in collaboration with SIC12 artstudio, MLAC I Contemporary Art Laboratory Museum and La Sapienza University of Rome, will be held in dual languages, French and Italian. Entrance is free to all.