The guiding image of this nineteenth edition of the Giornata del Contemporaneo is the work Pa(y)sage Corporel (2023) by Binta Diaw (Milan, 1995), the Italian-Senegalese artist chosen by the AMACI museum directors following Michelangelo Pistoletto (2006), Maurizio Cattelan (2007), Paola Pivi (2008), Luigi Ontani (2009), Stefano Arienti (2010), Giulio Paolini (2011), Francesco Vezzoli (2012), Marzia Migliora (2013), Adrian Paci (2014), Alfredo Pirri (2015), Emilio Isgrò (2016), Liliana Moro (2017), Marcello Maloberti (2018), Eva Marisaldi (2019), Armin Linke (2021) and Giorgio Andreotta Calò (2022).
The image created by Binta Diaw emerges from lengthy research taking the Black female body as its starting point, in relation to the traces of colonialism present in today’s society, and is directly inspired by a popular saying in the Wolof language of the Senegalese tradition: Nit nitay garabam [A human being is another human being’s cure]. The word garab has a double meaning, plant and medicine/cure: through the poetic quality of this proverb translated into an image, the artist highlights the inseparable bond linking human beings to Nature and vice versa, and the need to care for everything around us, as an integral part of ourselves and our lives. The guiding thread of the Giornata del Contemporaneo will always be the theme of ecology, connected to that of sustainability: global urgencies that confront us with the need to rethink the contemporary art system through renewed awareness and a more widespread sensitivity.
Binta Diaw (1995, Milan) is an artist based in Milan and Dakar. She graduated from the Brera Academy of Fine Arts in Milan and from the ÉSAD in Grenoble. She has exhibited at international events including: the Liverpool Biennial (2023); the 12th Berlin Biennale (2022); the 13th Rencontres de Bamako / Biennale Africaine de la Photographie (2022); the Young Artists Biennale San Marino (2021); and at major exhibition spaces including Trondheim Kunstall (Trondheim), Prometeogallery by Ida Pisani (Milan), Galerie Cécile Fakhoury (Abidjan, Dakar, Paris), Bungalow ChertLüdde (Berlin), Museo Madre (Naples), Museo Novecento (2021), Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo (2020), and Museo MA*GA (2020). She has also received numerous awards, including the Première Lauréate – Prix Carta Bianca (2022), the PART-Rimini Prize (2022), and the Bourse d’art Plastique de Grenoble (2020).
Thanks to the collaboration with the Directorate-General for Public and Cultural Diplomacy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, this year too the Giornata del Contemporaneo was extended abroad from Saturday 7 to Friday 13 October 2023, with 55 initiatives organised by Embassies, Consulates and Italian Cultural Institutes and other overseas bodies worldwide to support Italian contemporary art beyond national borders.
As in previous editions, the event kept several strands of activity, all with free admission: an ad hoc programme from the AMACI member museums, initiatives developed in collaboration with MAECI’s overseas network, the involvement of the Luoghi del Contemporaneo network promoted by the Directorate-General for Contemporary Creativity of the Ministry of Culture, and proposals from participating organisations. A calendar packed with events that brought out the widespread network of bodies promoting the various forms of contemporary artistic language across Italy and internationally.
For the first time, the Giornata del Contemporaneo had Rai Cultura as a Media Partner: to mark the event, on Saturday 7 October Rai 5 broadcast the Notte del Contemporaneo (Night of the Contemporary), a whole night dedicated to contemporary art that filled the channel’s schedule from 10.45 pm until 6.00 am the following morning.
As in previous editions, the event kept several strands of activity, all with free admission: an ad hoc programme from the AMACI member museums, initiatives developed in collaboration with MAECI’s overseas network, the involvement of the Luoghi del Contemporaneo network promoted by the Directorate-General for Contemporary Creativity of the Ministry of Culture, and proposals from participating organisations. A calendar packed with events that brought out the widespread network of bodies promoting the various forms of contemporary artistic language across Italy and internationally.
In testimony to the event’s well-established significance and its role within the national system, the Head of State, Sergio Mattarella, once again this year awarded the Giornata del Contemporaneo the Medal of the President of the Republic.
The event was supported by the Directorate-General for Contemporary Creativity of the Ministry of Culture, with the collaboration of the Directorate-General for Public and Cultural Diplomacy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, the media partnership of Rai Cultura and Rai 5, the technical sponsorship of Artshell, and the patronage of the Representation in Italy of the European Commission, the Chamber of Deputies, the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, the Conference of Regions and Autonomous Provinces, UPI – Union of Italian Provinces, ANCI – National Association of Italian Municipalities, and ICOM Italia.
