In these weeks of quarantine we are not only missing the personal interaction with our social sphere, but also other pieces of the mosaic that would usually compose our daily life. Those for whom culture is a hobby or a profession, for example, are certainly upset by the critical situation this sector is faced with. As we all know, all museums and institutes of culture have had to temporarily close to the public in compliance with government’s decrees designed to contain the spreading of Covid-19 (an economic emergency already discussed in previous articles Coronavirus, an appeal to denounce the crisis of the cultural sector and An appeal to the Government and the Parliament for the institution of a National Fund for Culture).
In this period of isolation, we can refuel on culture in different ways though: worth mentioning is, for instance, the initiative of MYmovies, which – up to the 3rd April – offered a selection of artist’s films from the archive of Schermo dell’arte (Art screen) in free streaming. But this is not the only case, many have been the innovative proposals that have brought culture directly to our homes.
With this in view, Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Biella, Cittadellarte-Fondazione Pistoletto and Fondazione Zegna, in collaboration with ART+Vibes Productions, are offering all art lovers the opportunity to see, on the vimeo.com site, the film Autoritratto attraverso mio padre, directed in 2019 by Chiara Battistini on the occasion of the exhibition Padre e Figlio. Ettore Pistoletto Olivero-Michelangelo Pistoletto. The 35-minute video will be available to watch for free for 24 hours starting from Friday 10th April at 11.00 clicking here. The narration is in the form of conversations with Alberto Fiz (curator of the exhibition) and Anna Zegna. Michelangelo Pistoletto talks about his creative relationship with his father Ettore Pistoletto Olivero, also an artist, as well as sharing his insight about extremely important themes like the generational passage and the sometimes conflicted empathy between father and son.
In the parts with Alberto Fiz, the artist reveals aspects of his education never mentioned before through a captivating narrative full of anecdotes and curiosities: “An only child, – we read in the press release of the initiative – Michelangelo grew up in the painter father’s studio, and after being his pupil, at the beginning of the ’70s he, in turn, became the teacher. Thanks to him, Ettore would modify his way of painting inserting mirroring elements recalling his son’s work”. It’s therefore Michelangelo who left his legacy to his father, reversing the traditional mechanism of succession. His dialogue with Anna Zegna focuses, instead, on the friendship between Ettore Pistoletto Olivero and Ermenegildo Zegna, Ettore’s patron and greatly successful wool entrepreneur, strongly attached to the Biellese territory. Autoritratto attraverso mio padre also shows images of the over 100 works composing the exhibition Padre e Figlio, which were on display from 17th April to 13th October 2019 across three venues, i.e. Palazzo Gromo Losa, Cittadellarte – Fondazione Pistoletto and Casa Zegna.
