Re-Materialization of Language. 1978–2022 represents the first attempt at a philological reconstruction of the seminal exhibition Materializzazione del linguaggio, while simultaneously re-activating and re-contextualizing its historical themes in the present.
Long overlooked, the 1978 exhibition, curated by Mirella Bentivoglio and dedicated to the verbo-visual explorations of eighty international women artists across diverse materials and practices, both individual and collective, marked a belated reintegration of women’s and feminist art practices within an edition of the Biennale di Venezia that was not yet fully aware of their significance.
Now recognized, after a long period of oblivion, as a turning point in the institutional emergence of women’s creativity and feminist art, Materializzazione del linguaggio was re-presented as a new exhibition in 2022, on the centenary of Bentivoglio’s birth, at Antonio Dalle Nogare Foundation in Bolzano, and is now re-materialized in this publication.
Featuring visual and textual contributions from curators and editors Cristiana Perrella, Andrea Viliani, and Vittoria Pavesi; artists Tomaso Binga, Monica Bonvicini, BRACHA, and Nora Turato, who were invited to re-activate the exhibition; exhibition designer Matilde Cassani; book designer Irma Boom; and graphic designers from Studio Mut, this publication, like the exhibition, navigates between bi- and tri-dimensionality, blurring the distinction between artwork and document, between museum and archive.
Designed by Irma Boom Office, the publication also includes a photographic foldout showcasing the works presented in the 2022 exhibition at Antonio Dalle Nogare Foundation in Bolzano.
Re-Materialization of Language. 1978–2022 is supported by the Directorate-General for Contemporary Creativity of the Italian Ministry of Culture under the Italian Council program (2023).
The catalog will be presented at the Italian Cultural Institute in Warsaw, Harvard University – Faculty of Arts and Sciences in Cambridge, and Magazzino Italian Art in New York, as well as the Centre d’Art Contemporain Genève in Switzerland. Updates regarding the presentation in Italy will be announced soon.
To order a copy of the book, click here.
The catalog will also be available for purchase directly at the Antonio Dalle Nogare Foundation.