24 Feb 2009

P.A.A.L.M.A. Price

The second edition of the P.A.A.L.M.A Premio Artista + Architetto, prize sponsored by La Marrana arteambientale and curated by Giacinto Di Pietrantonio Director of the Galleria di Arte Moderna e Contemporanea in Bergamo, is drawing to a close after the meeting of the jury assembled to select the win-ning work. The aim of this prize is to promote projects that originate from close collaboration between artists and architects and consequently, through the participation of individuals with various aesthetic and functional values, contribute to improving the quality of the places where we live.

The jury, comprised of Gabriele Basilico, an architect by training who specialises in art photography of architecture and urban landscapes, Francesco Bonami, an art critic who was formerly Director of the 2003 Venice Biennale d'Arte, and currently an expert consultant to various institutions active in the field of contemporary art (including the Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo in Turin and Head Curator of the Contemporary Art Museum of Chicago), Alessandro Mendini, an internationally renowned architect and designer, and Giacinto Di Pietrantonio and Grazia Marino Bolongaro (representing La Marrana arteambientale), chose the winning project after reviewing a series of proposals submitted by interna-tional advisors (Stefano Casciani , Vice Editor-in-Chief of Domus, Jes Fernie, curator and author of the book Two minds: Artists and Architects in collaboration, Beppe Finessi, professor at the Milan School of Architecture, and Hans Ulrich Obrist, curator and director of international projects at the Serpentine Gal-lery in London) who had been asked to refer works worthy of attention.

The jury focused on six works: Deep Fountain by Cristina Iglesias – Robbrecht and Daem, Leopold Waelplaats, Antwerp (1997-2006); Folkestone Library by David Adjaye – Chris Ofili, Folkestone (1999-2002); Hybrid Muscle by François Roche – Philippe Parreno, Sanpatong, Thailand (2003); Laban Con-temporary Dance Center by Herzog & de Meuron - Michael Craig-Martin, London (2000-2003), Bejing National Stadium by Herzog & de Meuron - Ai Weiwei, Beijing (2003-2008); Stephen Lawrence Center, by David Adjaye – Chris Ofili, London ( 2008).

The winning project will be announced during a debate on the topic 'Dare Arte al luogo: Utopia pos-sibile?' ('Giving Art a Place: a Possible Utopia?') that will be held at the Milan Triennale (Viale Ale-magna, Milan) on Tuesday, 17 March 2009, beginning at 5:30 p.m. Co-ordinated by Giacinto Di Pietrantonio, curator of the Prize, the event will be attended by the winners of the 2009 edition of the Prize, the jury members – Gabriele Basilico, Francesco Bonami and Alessandro Mendini – and Marc Augé, former Chairman of the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales (EHESS) in Paris and the author of major research projects and publications who has studied the 'anthropology of contemporary worlds' for many years.

The P.A.A.L.M.A. Prize – and La Marrana arteambientale, its sponsor and organiser – are attracting the interest of contemporary art specialists and museums. Recognition for the value attributed to the Prize is testified by the support given to the event by cultural, governmental and specialised institutions, including the Italian Ministry of Cultural Affairs, FAI – Fondo per l'Ambiente Italiano (Italian Environmental Fund), the Consiglio Nazionale degli Architetti, Pianificatori, Paesaggisti e Conservatori (Italian National Council of Architects, Planners, Landscape Architects and Conservationists), and ANCI - Associazione Nazionale Comuni Italiani (National Association of Italian Cities). Abitare is Media Partner and The Milan Triennale has also provided its collaborative support.

In 2008 the first P.A.A.L.M.A. Prize was awarded to the Chiostro della pace ('Peace Cloister') built by Ettore Sottsass and Enzo Cucchi at the University of Salerno. This project offers con-crete, effective testimony to how it is possible for artists and architects to work together to transmit new emotional values to architecture, while preserving the separate identities and lan-guages of the two 'arts.'


LA MARRANA AMBIENTALE – THE PARK

The Parco di Arte Ambientale environmental art park, located at La Marrana di Montemarcello, Ameglia (Province of La Spe-zia), in the Montemarcello-Magra Regional Nature Park – is one of the most interesting places where works of environmental art by international artists can be admired. Its history began in 1997, when Grazia and Gianni Bolongaro decided to transform their home and large, surrounding property at Montemarcello into a meeting place for contemporary artists and art lovers. Its programme of activity, inaugurated with an exhibition by the Iranian artist Hossein Golba, has the following mission: the creation of works conceived specifically for the individual sites chosen by the artists.

The special attention devoted to the relationship that is created between works of art and the environment prompted creation of the Park and continual improvement of the territory of La Marrana, testifying to the validity of the initial idea: art acts on the landscape in harmony with the landscape itself, creating new reasons for visiting and enjoying it.

The Park is now an open-air museum where visitors can admire works by Hossein Golba, Kengiro Azuma, Luigi Mainolfi, Philip Rantzer, Mario Airò, vedovamazzei, Magdalena Campos-Pons, Joseph Kosuth, Jannis Kounellis, Lorenzo Mangili, Lucia Pescador, Cecilia Guastaroba, Quinto Ghermandi, Jan Fabre, Ottonella Mocellin and Nicola Pellegrini, Ettore Spalletti, Gabriella Benedini, Hamish Fulton and Claudia Losi. Appearing alongside established, renowned masters are younger, less-familiar artists who practise environmental art with great enthusiasm and valid ideas.