Italian Institute of Culture, Stockholm: Volumi Contrastanti / Kontrasterande Volymer, 29/8-28/9 2012

Finissage on Wednesday 26th September from 6 pm. Welcome!

The exhibition Volumi Contrastanti / Kontrasterande Volymer opened at the Italian Cultural Institute in Stockholm on August 29th. It goes on from 30 August to 28 September 2012, and contains works by the artists Maria Andersson, Marco Di Giuseppe, Karin Lindh, Elena Mazzi, Malin Pettersson Öberg and Hans Rosenström. Malin Pettersson Öberg participates with the new site-specific piece In the Near Past. August 31st a guided tour in the exhibition was organized, by the curators Elina Suoyrjö and Rosario Sorbello together with the artists.

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Volumi contrastanti/Kontrasterande volymer is a group exhibition presenting site-specific works by Swedish, Italian and Finnish artists. The exhibited installations originate from the artists’ interpretations of the space and the location of the Italian Cultural Institute in Stockholm as well as the ideas and ideals it represents: the histories it contains and the architectural connotations it carries.

The institute building, created to promote Italian culture in Sweden, was inaugurated in November 1958. In the mind of the Italian architect Gio Ponti, the building was a total work of art encompassing everything from the architectural structures and the finishing materials to the furniture and lighting conditions. Within Swedish media, the building was seen as emblematically Italian: representing and mirroring Italian culture in every respect. Apart from minor reparations, the institute building remains today just as it was in the 1950s, both inside and out.

The exhibition brings together artists from different cultures to discuss personal, cultural and contemporary meanings of the site of the institute. The building itself serves as the context to bring forth and discuss questions concerning cultural representation, cultural identity and cultural stereotypes. The works refer to details in the design of the building, to anecdotes from the past decades as well as to cultural and political discourses significant to the site.

Text by Elina Suoyrjö and Rosario Sorbello (the curators of the exhibition).

Opening hours:
Mon-Thu 9:30am – 1pm & 2pm – 4:30pm (closed between 1 – 2pm)
Friday 9:30am – 1pm

Italian Cultural Institute, Gärdesgatan 14, Stockholm
www.iicstoccolma.esteri.it

The exhibition has been realized with the support from C.M. Lerici Foundation.