Una mostra laboratorio: "Conceptual Art Arte Povera Land Art", 1970

The essay revolves around the reconstruction of the exhibition "Conceptual Art Arte Povera Land Art", organized by Germano Celant at GAM - Civica Galleria d'Arte Moderna e Contemporanea in Turin in the Summer of 1970. Despite its relevance, being the first institutional show in Italy to bring together more than 30 artists from the US and all over Europe, it has been scantily acknowledged so far as a pivotal show, marking the evolution of Celant himself as a critic and curator, but also defining a new typology of exhibition of contemporary art. The unique combination of the most contemporary issues in terms of ephemerality and environment in art and the posture of the curator and critic as the archivist of his own time makes the exhibition the first one in a series which would become a trend in the practice of exhibition-making of Celant and define a new approach to contemporary art. In addition, it represents a moment in which the crosspollination and the mutual resonances between Italian Arte Povera and the Conceptual Art from the United States defined the emergence of a truly international network of artists.