Massimo Grimaldi. Emergency’s Paediatric Centre in Goderich

05 november 2010 - 12 december 2010

curated by Marcella Beccaria
Castello di Rivoli is holding a preview of work by Massimo Grimaldi resulting from the artist’s project that was awarded the 2009 Fellowship. The work is installed in room 7, on the first floor of the Savoy Residence. Grimaldi’s work stems from the need to re-examine the role of the artist and its social utility in relation to the serious events that define contemporary life. For several years the artist has collaborated with Emergency, an independent and neutral Italian association that offers free, high quality medical-surgical assistance to the civilian victims of wars, anti-personnel mines and poverty. This collaboration has resulted in a series of projects for which Grimaldi uses any monetary rewards he receives, granted for the production of works, to support Emergency’s activities. His prize-winning entry for the Fellowship, Emergency’s Paediatric Centre in Goderich, is part of this important series. Grimaldi has donated 15,000 Euro of the 20,000 Euro prize to the Paediatric Centre in Goderich, Sierra Leone.

The artist has used the remaining portion of the prize to create an on-site facility at the Centre, documenting its activities. This documentation, which the artist defines as “an affective reportage,” is intentionally presented through the use of the most recent generation Apple computers that will be part and parcel of the work. Now in its tenth installment, the Fellowship for Young Italian Artists is an important project, developed by the Castello and by the Supporting Friends of the Museum. Conceived to expand and promote the international visibility of Italian art, the Fellowship has been awarded in past years to Grazia Toderi (2001), Alessandra Tesi (2002), Margherita Manzelli (2003), Lara Favaretto (2004), Gianni Caravaggio (2005), Christian Frosi (2007), Alice Guareschi (2008) and Massimo Grimaldi (2009).

“The need to revisit my role as an artist and its utility has led me to collaborate with Emergency, an independent and neutral Italian association, founded in 1994 to offer free, high-quality medical-surgical assistance to the civilian victims of wars, anti-personnel mines and poverty. For some years I have systematically proposed to private collectors and institutions that they assign to Emergency most of the prize money for awards I have received, to support the activities of its health facilities, which consequently will become the subject of photographic documentation.”

With these words, Massimo Grimaldi describes a series that includes Emergency’s Pediatric Center in Goderich, a project that was the winning entry for the 2009 Fellowship for Young Italian Artists, awarded by the Supporting Friends of Castello di Rivoli.
Consistent with Grimaldi’s idea to use his own commitment to stimulate a sense of ethical responsibility, the artist has taken 15,000 euro of the 20,000 euro Fellowship award and assigned this amount directly to Emergency, to contribute to the acquisition of medicines and medical supplies for the Pediatric Center in Goderich, Sierra Leone.

The works made in the context of the project Emergency’s Pediatric Center in Goderich are photographs and videos shown through the most recent generation of Apple computers.  Technological supports intentionally chosen by Grimaldi, the computers convey an “affective reportage” that the artist created during the time spent at the Emergency’s hospital. The overall project is thus both the totality of actions and processes set in motion by the artist and their results: medicine (and aid) for the children of Goderich and images (and perhaps questions) for people and museums in other parts of the world.

Ryszart Kapuściński Lights, the other work installed here, consists of a temporary wall to which mobile lights are connected. Encoubersome, cold, and intentionally non-narrative, the work suggest a situation that needs to be faced, despite one’s intentions. The title is an arbitrary reference to the Polish journalist who wrote about numerous aspects of Africa.

Marcella Beccaria