Francesco Manacorda
My direction at Castello di Rivoli will be a teamwork
«The task of art is to make us explore unknown territories to discover new ways of looking at or feeling reality»
Forty-eight years old, from Turin, with a curriculum full of experiences around the world, especially in England, Francesco Manacorda is the new director of the Castello di Rivoli, a prestigious institution which houses one of the most significant contemporary art collections in Italy. Professor at the Curating Contemporary Art department of the Royal College of Art in London, he was curator at the Barbican Art Gallery and artistic director of the Tate Liverpool, of Artissima and of the V-A-C Foundation, a Moscow cultural institution from which he resigned following the invasion of Ukraine. We meet him in the days after Artissima, where he led the Back to the Future section, a platform that presented monographic projects created from 1950 to 1979 by pioneers of contemporary art.
Let’s talk about Artissima 2023: who is the typical visitor to a fair like this?
Francesco Manacorda :
«Artissima essentially has three types of visitors: the collector, who is the subject for whom the fair as a market event was designed; professionals from the art world, who come here to discover new proposals or to meet colleagues to establish new partnerships and future collaborations; and then the audience, invited to explore this world even if it wasn’t created specifically for them»
What are the characteristics that make Turin and its art fair at the Oval the ideal place for curators, collectors and art lovers?
Francesco Manacorda :
«The fair has always had an experimental edge and a focus on emerging artists which makes it the ideal place to discover new voices. This is the junction point where the three types of public I spoke about before find each other»
You curated the Back to the Future section together with Defne Ayas, where monographic projects by pioneers of contemporary art were presented…
Francesco Manacorda :
«Yes, the lines of research we used with Defne were the rediscovery of female artists who, for various reasons, have been marginalized over time. The section has set up many small monographic exhibitions which have managed to reintroduce the artwork of these artists whose work is particularly relevant today»
Which are the artists who, in your opinion, have managed to evolve the most in the last twenty-five years?
Francesco Manacorda :
«This is a million dollar question, I believe that in this last period the challenge launched by the digital revolution is one of the elements that artists have metabolised before all the others. But it’s useless to name names»
What are the current themes that fascinate you most as a curator?
Francesco Manacorda :
«I believe more and more in the concept of local compared to the global metropolis. Topics that seem very urgent to me at the moment are undoubtedly the relationship with the non-human but also elements of representation of non-Western cultures in the scientific work of visual arts institutions»
You will be the new director of the Castello di Rivoli Museum of Contemporary Art, succeeding Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev. The first thing you will do, on January 1, 2024, when you officially take office?
Francesco Manacorda :
«I’m not ready to talk about it yet because I want to start working with the staff first. I will certainly meet every single employee, one by one, to start collaborating together as part of a team»
Castello di Rivoli, Photo Paolo Pellion, Torino
You have lived abroad a lot: what is Italy like seen from afar?
Francesco Manacorda :
«Italy is a country undergoing change and evolution. Today much more than in the last twenty years. I believe that this is a truly positive fact»
Must art always be ethical?
Francesco Manacorda :
«Art first of all must make us discover new territories and ways of looking at or feeling reality»
Three very young artists to focus on in the future?
Francesco Manacorda :
«I don’t like giving this type of list because I believe it’s a game in which all those excluded are physiologically penalized without deserving it. Instead, let’s focus on all the artists who show us the future through their works!»
What artwork moves you the most?
Francesco Manacorda :
«The Frari triptych by Giovanni Bellini in Venice»
What did you dream of doing when you were 15?
Francesco Manacorda :
«The archaeologist».
Intervista: Germano D’Acquisto
Ritratti di Francesco Manacorda: Ludovica Arcero
