October 1968. “arte povera più azioni povere” at Arsenali in Amalfi

Opening:
October 13, 2018, 11 am

Fifty years from the original event, this display gathers photographs by Bruno Marconi that document the iconic exhibition arte povera più azioni povere (Antichi Arsenali della Repubblica, Amalfi, October 4-6 1968). These rare photographs are frequently alone in documenting the ephemeral works and actions that took place during that exceptional historical event, which connected the foremost artists and intellectuals that revolutionized contemporary art internationally. The images were held in the archives of Lia Rumma who donated a copy to the Museum on this occasion.

arte povera più azioni povere was organized in 1968 by the Colautti Study Center of Salerno and it was promoted by Marcello Rumma, enlightened collector, editor and supporter of the arts, while the initiative was curated by Germano Celant (who had already installed the first Arte Povera show titled Arte Povera-IM spazio, Galleria La Bertesca, Genoa, September-October 1967, and who had also published the theoretical manifesto “Arte Povera. Notes for a Guerrilla War”, November 1967, Flash Art).

The exhibition in Amalfi – the first public exhibition of Arte Povera –  was also the first key internationalizing moment for artist in the sixties, providing the opportunity to meet for protagonists of Conceptual Art, Post-Minimalism, Land Art. Artists included Giovanni Anselmo, Alighiero Boetti, Luciano Fabro, Paolo Icaro, Jannis Kounellis, Gino Marotta, Mario Merz, Marisa Merz, Giulio Paolini, Pino Pascali, Gianni Piacentino, Michelangelo Pistoletto, Emilio Prini, Gilberto Zorio, (the artist Piero Gilardi joined the convention). In addition,  the exhibition in Amalfi included also Pietro Lista and Ableo together with the Englishman Richard Long the Dutch Jan Dibbets and Gerard Van Elk.