Six among the most recent projects produced by A Collection: the tapestries by Marc Bauer, Luca Pignatelli and Francesco Arena as the result of the latest residencies organised by A Collection, with the artworks by Christian Fogarolli, The Cool Couple and Guglielmo Castelli. The first floor is also characterized by a previously unseen work conceived and created by Giovanni Bonotto in collaboration with Florentina Isac, that specifically engages with architectural details of Spazio Leonardo. 
The naturalistic triumphs and characters by Bauer, the cinematic settings and visions of Pignatelli, the political or mathematical analysis by Arena, the magical inscrutability in Castelli’s scenes, the three-dimensional approach of The Cool Couple, the scientific/ biological and cultural analysis by Fogarolli, are displayed in the Manica Lunga of Spazio Leonardo as if they were theatrical curtains. And as such, they propose a trajectory on possible viewpoints on our time, offering an intense, diverse and articulated reading of some of the several tensions livening our thinking and the dynamics of the present up.

Four large tapestries from A Collection were exhibited at the Cabinet | Studiolo gallery for a special project aimed at exploring the entire creative process behind tapestries through a number of representative works. The reflection on the relationship between fine craftsmanship, contemporary production and technological processes was hosted in the space where, for years, Maria Chiara Valacchi and Antonio Di Mino have featured their latest research into the international language of painting.

A Collection is part of MUSE Trento’s Beyond the Plastic project. While A Collection is a hybrid yet very fertile blend of art and science, the MUSE – which stands out on the international scene for its power in disseminating naturalistic and scientific content – aims to foster respect for the environment through contemporary art, and we are very proud to be part of it. In Trento, with the MUSE and at Palazzo delle Albere (its main venue), A Collection finds common ground: a dimension where everything comes together and from which new research may start out.

The A Collection debut was held in Palazzo Barolo, a carefully restored exemplar of refined Baroque taste where today it is possible to visit and admire its apartments and endowment of artworks. This is where the Marquises lived, regularly entertaining His Majesty Carlo Alberto, the Count of Cavour, Massimo d’Azeglio, Silvio Pellico and the other nobility of the day. Palazzo Barolo houses two museums, two libraries, two archives and the Tancredi di Barolo Foundation, making it a place of great cultural activity on both the urban and national scene. In these rooms, decorated with stuccoes, frescoes and wood panelling but above all steeped in history and culture, the tapestries of the first edition of A Collection are to be found. In memory of the centuries-old tradition of upholstery art, the tapestries returned temporarily to furnish the sumptuous rooms of this residence with a contemporary style reflecting the artists’ research and with a great ambition: to invite us to think that art can also be placed at the service of our planet. The official public presentation of A Collection took place during Contemporary Art Week in Turin, on the occasion of Artissima 2019.