september 19, 2023 - XNL Piacenza Contemporanea

XNL APERTO Piacenza from Sept. 23, 2023 - second edition

The Rete Cultura Piacenza (Piacenza Culture Network), which includes the Foundation of #piacenza and Vigevano, Municipality of #piacenza, Province of #piacenza, Emilia-Romagna Region, Chamber of Commerce, and Diocese of Piacenza-Bobbio, is excited to announce the second edition of XNL Aperto, an expansive project dedicated to contemporary arts, spanning across #piacenza and its surrounding areas. The opening event will take place on Saturday, September 23rd at 5:00 PM.

The project is coordinated by XNL #arte and brings together a consortium of esteemed professionals who share an interest in enriching the connection between the local area and its cultural heritage within an institutional framework, through special #events and extraordinary openings.

This second edition consolidates the vision of a plural cultural community sharing experiences and the desire to develop a different way of enjoying the richness of places through knowledge of the arts of our time.

The emotional landscape of contemporary art that was established in 2022 has now been enriched by new institutions, galleries, artist studios, and projects located in #piacenza and neighbouring villages.

Once again, Propp has designed the graphics of the event. The project’s visual identity draws inspiration from Piacenza’s civic heraldry. While the first edition featured the she-wolf as its symbol, this year’s symbol is the bee, representing the industrious spirit of the local population.

The second edition of #xnlaperto will feature the following projects: Fenestella, curated by a consortium of private galleries (Cardelli & Fontana, Corvi-Mora, ED Gallery, greengrassi, UNA Gallery); Alfabeto Bianco, conceived by Francesca and Ruggero Montrasio, with the participation of Montrasio #arte Monza and Milan, and of ZERO...; UNA Gallery, in its #piacenza venue; Biffi Arte and Spazio BFT; and Volumnia, which will host the fourth DucatoPrize, back in #piacenza after two years and with several novelties.

The partnership with the city’s institutions and museums remains strong. The Ricci Oddi Modern Art Gallery is set to unveil its gardens for a music performance curated by Concorto. Noteworthy newcomers include the Alberoni gallery, the network of Diocesan Museums, notably, the Mazzolini Collection Museum, which is part of the larger museum complex located within the St. Columbanus Monastery in Bobbio.

XNL is also delighted to introduce an inaugural group of artists who will generously open their studios to the public. Among them are Claudia Losi, MASBEDO, Ugo Locatelli, William Xerra, and Nes Lerpa.

Between modern and contemporary, private spaces and public places, the program also extends its reach to nearby villages through initiatives like Una Boccata d’Arte, in Travo, which marks the culmination of the artist Raghad Saqfalhait’s residency project with the screening of the documentary “Una Boccata d’Arte - 20 artists, 20 villages, 20 regions” . Additionally, the itinerary ventures into an extraordinary experience at The Shit Museum (Campremoldo Sopra, near Gragnano Trebbiense), an ecological and innovative project, launched in 2015 within the confines of a medieval castle’s ground floor, which ingeniously merges nature, art, and technology.

Finally, XNL Art is pleased to announce on this occasion its two new exhibitions, which address the theme of the city and its heritage from different perspectives. Perimetro Piacenza, is a collective work carried out over the past few months in collaboration with Perimetro magazine and Cesura - Luca Santese, involving workshops and photographic campaigns which render an urban landscape made of never-before-seen faces and places. While Sul guardare is a series of exhibitions dedicated to lesser-known works from the collections of #piacenza museums, in dialogue with contemporary artists. For this first chapter, works from the collection of a Ricci Oddi Modern Art Gallery will be set in a new frame of meaning thanks to the work of Massimo Grimaldi. The project will last one year and will see several artists interact with works from the collections of #piacenza and its territory.

Thanks to our strong partnership with local high schools, on the opening night of September 23rd, a group of students will be on hand to assist visitors in navigating between the different venues

Further information in the press release to download