Artists in a Time of War
Drafted by Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev and
Marianna Vecellio
March 15 – November 19, 2023
This new exhibition of over 140 works by 30 artists presents more than 140 works by 39 artists who have experienced or are experiencing war. Their works express empathy and complexity, unease but also great humanity.
Photo: Gostomel. From artist’s visual diary, 2023 Courtesy the artist
Exhibition itinerary
Description
“Recent international conflicts have led us to create a new exhibition that investigates the meaning of war,” says director Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev, “to ask ourselves how some particularly empathetic human beings – artists – process the organized violence of war, with its armies and tactics. They highlight its horror and its inexplicability, suspended as it is between rational calculations, on the one hand, and utter unpredictability on the other.
Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes
Desastres de la Guerra, 1810-1815 Collezione Fondazione Francesco Federico Cerruti per l’Arte long term loan
Castello di Rivoli Museo d’Arte Contemporanea, Rivoli-Torino
Artists in a Time of War includes loans from important Italian and international public and private institutions, as well as two new commissions, created for the occasion by the Afghan artist Rahraw Omarzad (Kabul, 1964), and the Ukrainian artist Nikita Kadan (Kiev, 1982). The exhibition features art of the past and present, including Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes’ Desastres de la Guerra (Disasters of War), 1810-1815, and develops the theme of war and post-traumatic subjectivity through historical works and new projects by leading contemporary artists. The itinerary highlights the practices of Omarzad, artist and key figure of the Afghan cultural scene, who found asylum in Italy and Germany, and Kadan, an artist who lives between Kiev and Bucha. Both artists offer a message of great emotional and human, as well as social and political impact. Originating from war-torn countries and scenes of profound geopolitical turmoil, they reflect on the importance of finding narratives of care and peace through creative expression.
The itinerary of the exhibition is integrated by the presentation in the Museum Theater of a video program curated by the Ukrainian artist Nikita Kadan with Giulia Colletti entitled A letter from the visible front on Saturdays and Sundays from 3 to 6 pm.
With thanks to Esercito Italiano for its support of the artwork by Rahraw Omarzad
The programs of Castello di Rivoli Museo d’Arte Contemporanea are made possible primarily thanks to the support of Regione Piemonte
The exhibition is made possible with the support of
With thanks to Andrea Ruben Levi, Francesca Thyssen-Bornemisza, and Giuliana Setari for their support of the exhibition
With thanks to TBA21 for co-commissioning the work of Nikita Kadan and TBA21_on stage for its support of Rahraw Omarzad
With further thanks to Carena – Fornace di Cambiano for their in-kind support of Nikita Kadan
