Nella terra di mezzo, the fourth appointment of AN EDUCATION – a series of exhibitions of artists’ videos and workshops conceived for students and anyone interested in contemporary art – opens on September 21st 2013 at Villa e Collezione Panza, Varese, the property owned by FAI – Fondo Ambiente Italiano. The video Nella terra di mezzo, by the artists Ettore Favini and Hektor Mamet, will be shown in the project room of the Villa until October 24th.
The video, presented for the first time to the public, documents the final phase of the workshop ‘A Certain Idea of Border’ curated by ALAgroup and conducted by the artists Ettore Favini and Hektor Mamet, involving students from two schools: the vocational school IAL, Cremona, and the CSIA Art School, Lugano. For eight months the participants reflected and worked on the concept of ‘border’ through virtual meetings, discussions and shared reflections. The project ended last May with a performance by the students that took place on a trail on the border between Italy and Switzerland and which is recorded in the video.
From 10 am to 1 pm on September 21st, the day of the opening, the artists – together with some of the students from Lugano and Cremona – will conduct a workshop with students from a local high school; at 5 pm they will meet the public during a conversation with the artistic director of Villa Panza Anna Bernardini, the curator Maria Rosa Sossai, the film critic Andrea Bellavita and some of the participants to the morning’s workshop.
From September 22nd to October 24th the video will be screened in the chapel on the first floor of the villa, specially set up as a project room. There will be guided tours for students of schools, colleges and universities of the surrounding area and of Lombardy.
AN EDUCATION is an initiative of FAI – Fondo Ambiente Italiano and is curated by ALAgroup, the platform for education and contemporary art founded by Maria Rosa Sossai. The project stems primarily from the didactic-educational need to attract young people to the museum and stimulate their interest in contemporary art, with an emphasis on new technologies and the new media, which has always been one of the main guidelines behind Giuseppe Panza’s choices in the creation of his Collection.
AN EDUCATION is organized with the support and assistance of the Province and the Municipality of Varese. The event benefits from the valuable contribution of Eni, which – as main partner of “Eventi nei Beni del FAI” (events in the FAI properties) – sponsors the Foundation in this important project. PIRELLI, which for many years has supported the Foundation, Cedral Tassoni, the historic Italian brand that for the second consecutive year has decided to pair the tradition, the history and the naturalness of their product with FAI, and UBI – Banca Popolare di Bergamo, renew their contribution.
Ettore Favini (Cremona, 1974) lives and works in Cremona. He studied at the Academy of Fine Arts, Brera, and exhibited in a number of private and public venues both in Italy and abroad. Among his solo exhibitions: Verdecuratoda…voi, Fondazione Pastificio Cerere, Rome, 2013; The Sun Behind the Clouds, PAV, Turin, 2012; Sun Ra, Marsèlleria, Milan, 2012; All in a good time, David Adamo|Ettore Favini, Basilica Maggiore, Bergamo, 2011; Walden Method, MAR, Museo d’Arte della Città di Ravenna, 2010; Private View, The Italian Academy, New York, 2007. Among his group exhibitions: Fuoriclasse, Galleria d’Arte Moderna, Milan, 2012; Metamorfosi, Galleria d’Arte Moderna, Udine, 2012; Family Talk, Futura Project, Prague, Czech Republic, 2012; Hidden Place and Identity, Manifesta, Genk, Belgium, 2012; Take the Leap, Peep Hole, Milan, 2012; Il Teatro delle Esposizioni, Villa Medici, Rome, 2011; Italian Artists in New York, ISCP, New York, 2009; Il cielo in una stanza, per un’osservazione eccentrica del paesaggio, GC.AC, Monfalcone, 2009; Green Platform, CCCS Strozzina, Palazzo Strozzi, Florence, 2009; Soft Cell: Space Dynamics in Italy, GC.AC, Monfalcone, 2008; Greenwashing, Environment: Perils, Promises and Perplexities, Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, Turin, 2008. Among his prizes and awards: DHG Art Factory, Prato, 2012; Residency at Civitella Ranieri Foundation, 2011; Amici del Castello di Rivoli Prize (finalist), 2008; New York Prize, Columbia University, New York, 2007; ‘Premio Artegiovane, Torino e Milano incontrano l’Arte’, Milan, 2006. http://ettorefavini.wordpress.com
Hektor Mamet (Zurich, 1983) lives and works in Paris, London and Ticino, Switzerland. In 2006 he obtained a BA in Fine Art at City and Guild Art School, London, followed by an MA in Fine Art at Chelsea College of Art and Design, also in London. From 2008 to 2010 he participated in the research programme ‘La Seine’ at the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts de Paris under the guidance of Tony Brown. In 2009, thanks to Prohelvetia, he was artist in residence at IS Wyspa in Gdansk, Poland, where he produced the site specific installation Canteen. During the academic year 2010/2011 he was an artistic member at the Swiss Institute in Rome, and in 2012 artist in residence at Cittadellarte-Fondazione Pistoletto, Biella. Among his solo shows: Shopping Centre, Forum Vebikus Kulturzentrum Kammgarn, Schaffhausen, Svizzera, 2013; Production², Galleria Artericambi, Verona, 2011; Trasloco, with Max Pizio, Galleria Officina, Magliaso, Switzerland, 2010. Among his group exhibitions: Memory and place disclosed, FRAC Regione Piemonte, Cittadellarte-Fondazione Pistoletto, Biella, 2012; UNIDEE in progress, Cittadellarte-Fondazione Pistoletto, Biella, 2012; Enigma della modernità, Spazio Officina, Chiasso, Switzerland, 2012; Art in Box, Istituto Culturale Ceco, Milan, 2012; Nel frattempo / Meanwhile, Ex Mercato della Frutta, Valeggio sul Mincio, 2011; Rock the Casbah, Swiss Institute, Rome, 2011; Tina B., the Prague Contemporary Art Fair, 2010; Hands on: Design Brought to Life, Arts Gallery, University of the Arts London, 2010. www.hektormamet.com
Opening times and admission on September 21st
Workshop: 10 am to 1 pm. Admission 5 Euros. Booking essential (call 0332-283960)
Public talk with the artists: 5 pm. Admission 5 Euros; FAI members, 3 Euros. Free for students from Università dell’Insubria, Varese (student card required)
From September 22nd to October 24th Nella terra di mezzo will be screened in the project room and will observe the same opening times and admissions to the Villa. The ticket includes access to Villa e Collezione Panza permanent collection