Contemporary art, music, theatre and more take centre stage in Prato from mid-September, with a full calendar of exhibitions, performances and panel discussions.
From September 25 to 27, the Luigi Pecci Centre of Contemporary Art will host its first forum on contemporary Italian art (see www.forumartecontemporanea.it). A response to the reduced number of Italian artists rep- resented at the 2015 Venice Biennale, the forum will bring together museum curators, directors, gallery owners, col- lectors, artists, academics and others to explore Italy’s on-going struggle to assert itself on the international arts scene. In order to stimulate ideas and conversation in a positive vein, the forum’s organizers have posed a provocative question: What if part of the problem comes from the Italian art world itself?
From ‘Synchronicity’Concurrently, Palazzo Pretorio will open Synchronicity: Contemporaries, from Lippi to Warhol, a highly anticipated exhibition placing works by post-World War II artists alongside the museum’s permanent collection. Curated by Stefano Pezzato, the show features more than 30 works, including those by Marcel Duchamp, Andy Warhol, Michelangelo Pistoletto and Vanessa Bancroft. The exhibition promises to juxtapose past and present in unexpected ways: work by Serbian performance artist Marina Abramović finds an unlikely spot within the Caravaggesque collection, while Piero Gilardi’s work is placed among eighteenth-century still lifes. The show runs from September 24 until January 10, 2016.
On the musical stage, the multi- genre Urban EcoFestival runs from September 17 to 20. Pairing music with environmental education, the festival features Levante, Pratese musician Francesco Guasti and reggae performers Africa Unite. In addition, the festival will feature street food stands, an eco- friendly marketplace and a family treasure hunt with a sustainability-related theme.
For more information, see www.settembreprato.it.
