Within the programme of Hidden Histories 2021, NABA will host artist Leone Contini, whose research lies on the edge between creative practices and ethnographic work.
From the 22nd to the 24th of September the workshop “Il Museo Fantasma” (The Ghost Museum) will take place within the Academy’s campus in Rome. The workshop, developed in collaboration with NABA and directed at students and young people under 35, will see the artist retrace his research on the collections of the former African Museum, the institution dedicated to people and cultures of Italian colonies in Africa, which was opened in Rome from 1904 to 1971. Its collection, which shows a strong colonial framework and clearly testifies to the violent subjugation imposed by Italy on the African colonies, wanted by the fascist regime, was dismembered through many museums in the city in the year the museum closed and relocated to various sites around the city. The allocation process stands at the centre of Contini’s point of view, in an evocative reconstruction of this Ghost Museum to remember the history of Italian colonialism in Africa, often deliberately forgotten, and to discuss the euro-centric paradigms at the foundations of ethnographic museum discipline and more. The workshop will develop itself in a visit through the collections of former African Museum at Museo delle Civiltà, within EUR district, including a path within the neighborhood.
The first day of the workshop will end in NABA campus with the public talk revolving around Leone Cantini’s work, taking place on September 22nd at 7 pm, in which the artist will present the fundamentals themes of his artistic practice.
The initiative is part of Hidden Histories, the public site-specific programme of performances, laboratories, talks and urban explorations, that reflects in a de-colonial way on Rome’s cultural, and historical heritage, curated by Sara Alberani and Valerio Del Baglivo in collaboration with Marta Federici. The programme is part of LOCALES, a curatorial platform founded in Rome in 2020, to reflect on artistic practices in the public sphere.
Workshop: September 22nd from 10 am to 6 pm, September 23rd from 11 am to 1 pm and from 3 pm to 5 pm, September 24th from 10 am to 1 pm
Public Talk: September 22nd at 7 pm at NABA campus in Via Ostiense 92, Rome
Discover more on LOCALES website.
Free access with limited admission, reservation at hiddenhistories.rome@gmail.com
Access allowed only to those presenting a Green Pass