Walking past one via Maggio window over the summer left some locals scratching their heads. ‘We’re giving this space a new look. See you in September!’ the mysterious sign outside Cartavetra proclaimed.
Since the space held its official inauguration in October, it’s made quite a splash on the Oltrarno’s au courant art scene. Though it hosts exhibitions, Cartavetra is far from a typical gallery: instead, it’s a cultural association backed by a Tuscan network of illustrators and artists, bridging that community with the Florentine public through conferences, courses, social events and more. Cartavetra’s manifold missions are reflected in its division of space: there’s the gallery, designed to be the meeting ground for artists and their audiences, and the laboratory, where in-house artistic production takes shape.
The space’s evolving identity is the inspiration behind its first group exhibition, which runs until December 4. Roughly translated as ‘rugged objects,’ Ruvidezze celebrates the unfinished and the uneven; the ‘jagged edges’ of art and of our own experiences.
In the long term, the association hopes to host artists-in-residence and continue in the interdisciplinary direction it has already established. For more information on upcoming events and classes (which include Italian courses for foreigners) at Cartavetra, visit their website.
