The new project by Fondazione ICA
The ICA Milano Foundation presents the upcoming events that make up the international tour of MASBEDO’s “Ritratto di città” project, curated by Cloe Piccoli. MASBEDO is one of the winners of the eleventh edition of Italian Council (2022), a program by the Directorate General of Contemporary Creativity of the Ministry of Culture aimed at promoting international contemporary Italian art.
Named after the first sound composition by Luciano Berio and Bruno Maderna in 1954, inaugurating the experimental practices of the RAI Studio di Fonologia in Milan, “Ritratto di città” is a reenactment of that innovative experience. Starting from electronic music broadcasted on radio, the project expands into a broad vision that involves architecture, art, design, and literature as elements of civil and democratic renewal.
MASBEDO’s project includes a video, a volume edited by Marsilio Arte with graphic design by Leftloft, and an extensive program of screenings, installations, sound performances, conversations, and a public program. The goal is to engage international professionals in an artistic and cultural exchange, a cornerstone of the Italian Council’s mission.
An integral part of the project is the extensive network of international institutions contributing to the research, production, dissemination, and communication of the work. The project partner is SODA (School of Digital Arts) in Manchester, with whom a collaboration has been established to create an exhibition program and a public program. SODA will also provide cutting-edge technologies and expertise in the video and audio sector. A prestigious network of Cultural Partners, including SODA, Centre Pompidou-Metz, Museo del Novecento in Milan, Triennale Milano, Castello Sforzesco in Milan, Fondazione Merz in Turin, MAXXI – National Museum of the 21st Century Arts, and CCA Tel Aviv – Yafo, contributes to the project’s development with specific programs of screenings, performances, and public events.
The first event for “Ritratto di città” is scheduled for Monday, March 25, 2024, in Manchester, where SODA (School of Digital Art) and MODAL (SODA Art Center) will host the premiere of MASBEDO’s video “Ritratto di città (20/20.000Hz)” accompanied by a dedicated talk. The video installation will be open to the public until Tuesday, April 30, 2024.
During the opening period in Manchester, the project will involve the city of Milan with a dual event during the Milan Art Week 2024. From Wednesday, April 10, to Sunday, June 30, 2024, the Museo del Novecento will present the exhibition “Ritratto di città” by MASBEDO, curated by Cloe Piccoli, with exhibition design by ONSITESTUDIO. On Tuesday, April 9, 2024, Triennale Milano will host a monumental new video installation animated by a live sound performance, specifically created for the Salone d’Onore of the institution.
The project continues with a packed schedule of screenings, talks, and performances in collaboration with cultural partners according to the following calendar: Sunday, April 3, 2024 – Centre Pompidou-Metz, Metz; Saturday, April 13, 2024 – Fondazione Merz, Turin; Tuesday, April 23, 2024 – MAXXI, Rome; Wednesday, April 24, 2024 – CCA Tel Aviv – Yafo. In May 2024, Triennale Milano and Castello Sforzesco will host a rich international public program.
At the conclusion of the international production and promotion, the video work “Ritratto di città” will be acquired by the Museo del Novecento in Milan.
MASBEDO’s project, curated by Cloe Piccoli, aims to reactivate in a contemporary perspective a fundamental experience for creating a new language and a new internationally avant-garde cultural identity. “Ritratto di città” develops that experience in a context of international exchanges with images, sounds, words, books, and an articulated public program. Thus, the open, fluid, non-coded, unwritten language of electronic music from the Studio di Fonologia, spreading from the RAI studios in Milan to the city through video and the ether, becomes a vehicle for a reinterpretation and an innovative, experimental, and radical vision of the project culture.
