UMoCA – Fondazione Merz
Two days between art and territory, presented by Arte Continua Association and designed for celebrating the reopening of UMoCA – Under Museum of Contemporary Art, founded and directed by the Chinese artist Cai Guo-Qiang in Colle Val d’Elsa.
The inaugural exhibition, promoted by the Arte Continua Association, alongside the Colle di Val d'Elsa Municipality and to Merz Foundation, was dedicated to Mario and Marisa Merz on the occasion of the anniversary of twenty years since their participation in the seventh edition of Art to Art.
Donated to the city of Colle Val d’Elsa in 2001 by Cai Guo-Qiang, as part of Art to Art VI, the museum has once again switched on its illuminated sign beneath the arches of the San Francesco Bridge, thanks to restoration produced with the support of the public call for proposals PAC2020 – Piano per l’Arte Contemporanea promosso dalla Direzione Generale Creatività Contemporanea del Ministero della Cultura. L’UMoCA è così diventato un museo permanente a tutti gli effetti, legato al contesto naturale, storico e culturale del territorio, in dialogo con la cittadinanza e i visitatori, secondo la visione dell’artista.
Starting on October 22nd from Colle Val d’Elsa, the route continued the following day to Poggibonsi, where the Medici Fortress hosted a multidisciplinary discussion on the prospects that link contemporary art, sustainability, and territory in the conception of City of the Future. Sono intervenuti il Sindaco di Poggibonsi David Bussagli, Valerio Barberis, assessore all’urbanistica di Prato, l’artista Loris Cecchini, l’architetto Mario Cucinella, il curatore Vicente Todolì, Beatrice Trussardi, Presidente della Fondazione Trussardi e l’artista Tobias Rehberger, moderati da Mario Cristiani, Presidente di Associazione Arte Continua.
The exhibition was instead held in the historic spaces of the Palazzo Pretorio Contemporary Art, Art for Art’s Sake with crystal works created during the project's years Art to Art by Moataz Nasr, Kiki Smith, a record of the installation Montevideo created in 1999 by Tobias Rehberger, and Tacita Dean’s video installation dedicated to Mario Merz, filmed in the garden of the Galleria Continua in San Gimignano and presented at the 2002 Venice Biennale
