PROGETTO GENESI
ARTE E DIRITTI UMANI / ART AND HUMAN RIGHTS
ARTE E DIRITTI UMANI / ART AND HUMAN RIGHTS
Traveling project, 2021 – ongoing
1st edition: September 21, 2021 – September 21, 2022
2nd edition: February 22, 2023 – January 28, 2024
3rd edition: March 1 – December 1, 2024
Exhibition views: © Guglielmo de’ Micheli (ph. in Varese); © Mattielli photos (ph. in Assisi);
© Pierangelo Laterza (ph. in Matera); © Fabio Florio (ph. in Agrigento) © Stefano Tacchinardi (ph of 2nd and 3rd editions)
Promoted by Associazione Genesi
In 2021-2022 supported by MiC – Ministry of Italian Culture, Italian National Commission for UNESCO, RAI for Social Affairs, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, and FAI –FONDO PER L’AMBIENTE ITALIANO.
In 2023 and 2024 supported by Rai per la Sostenibilità ESG, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, FAI – FONDO PER L’AMBIENTE ITALIANO, Fondazione Gariwo la foresta dei Giusti, RFK Italia – Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights.
Curated by Ilaria Bernardi
Starting on September 21, 2021, Association Genesi initiated Progetto Genesi. Art and Human Rights, curated by Ilaria Bernardi: it is an interdisciplinary and inclusive project that combines exhibition and educational events with the aim of offering a permanent education on the matter of human rights. 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.
Progetto Genesi is articulated in a conceptual, temporal, and theme-based pattern comprising a rich program of educational activities addressed to a public of all ages and a traveling exhibition of Collezione Genesi: the Associazione Genesi’s contemporary art collection including works by artists from around the world who deal with the most dramatic issues of our day and age.
The exhibition is a traveling exhibition, stopping in nine cities: in 2021-2022 in Varese, Assisi, Matera, and Agrigento; in 2023 in Milan, Genoa, Brescia; in 2024 in Gubbio, Pavia, Turin and Cesano Maderno (Milan).
In 2021-2022 the exhibition makes its first stop in Varese where the Collezione Genesi is shown at Villa Panza, a FAI property, while in Assisi, Matera, and Agrigento the Collezione Genesi is displayed in an art museum with a strong identity value for the city, thus valorizing the local cultural heritage and at the same time promoting unprecedented short circuits between the works in the collection, rigorously contemporary ones from around the world, but most importantly from non-Western cultures, and those of the host museums, which hold ancient or modern art that is prevalently European. In parallel, a work in the Collection is shown in one of the territory’s FAI properties, emphasizing the close collaboration and synergy with FAI in the dissemination of this initiative. Moreover, in 2021-2022 the exhibition segment of Progetto Genesi traces a highly symbolic temporal pathway: in each city the exhibition opens its doors on the occasion of an important International or World Day established by the UN to promote topics linked to human rights.
In 2023 in Milan the exhibition includes 15 new and never-before-seen acquisitions that have since joined the Collezione Genesi; in 2024 the Gubbio exhibition includes 15 new and never-before-seen acquisitions.
In 2023 in Genoa and in 2024 in Pavia a group of the most important woks in the Collezione Genesi is shown, while in Brescia and in Turin two specific projects are conceived, concerning the condition of women in Iran and the Italo-Senegalese artist Binta Diaw, respectively.
In 2024 the condition of women is the common thread running through all the stages of the project.
An essential part of Progetto Genesi is its educational activity, consisting of a rich series of guided tours and workshops that are both inclusive and participative, at the exhibition venues as well as online, addressed to children of all ages and adults. FAI partecipates in Progetto Genesi’s educational mission by involving the volunteers of the Delegazioni FAI and in particular the mediators of FAI Ponte tra Culture, who come from different countries, and who make an original contribution describing the works in the Collezione Genesi live and via podcast, enriching them with their direct and personal testimonies.
In 2021-2022 the educational activity also includes the cycle of monthly appointments consisting of twelve conversations online entitled Challenges for the Future in collaboration with the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore. Internationally renowned experts and professors from the Università Cattolica discuss relevant themes linked to human rights. The lessons are streamed 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.
In 2023 and 2024 the educational program includes a public program organized in collaboration with Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, FAI – FONDO PER L’AMBIENTE ITALIANO, Fondazione Gariwo, La Foresta dei Giusti, and RFK Italia – Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights.
Among the exhibited artists: Diane Arbus, Anna Boghiguian, Monica Bonvicini, Binta Diaw, Sonia Gomes, Shilpa Gupta, Petrit Halilaj, Emilio Isgrò, Alfredo Jaar, Tala Madani, Ibrahim Mahama, Elena Mazzi, Zanele Muholi, Shirin Neshat, Otobong Nkanga, Francis Offman, Betye Saar, Doris Salcedo, Sebastião Salgado, Henry Taylor, Pascale Marthine Tayou, Ai Weiwei.
Exhibition venues and dates:
Varese, Villa Panza
September 21 – December 8, 2021
Assisi, Museo Diocesano and Cripta di San Rufino e Chiesa di Santa Croce
December 18, 2021 – February 27, 2022
Matera, Museo Nazionale di Matera – Palazzo Lanfranchi and Casa Noha
March 8 – May 27, 2022
Agrigento, Museo Archeologico Regionale Pietro Griffo and Biblioteca Lucchesiana
June 5 – September 4, 2022
Milan, Triennale Milano
February 21 – April 2, 2023
Genoa, Palazzo del Principe
April 20 – October 22, 2023
Gubbio, Legge dei Tiratori della Lana
March 1 – April 7, 2024
Pavia, Horti-Almo Collegio Borromeo
May 4 – June 2, 2024
Cesano Maderno, Palazzo Arese Borromeo
September 20 – December 1, 2024