A few days before World Autism Awareness Day, scheduled for April 2, it opens on March 30 at the Gallerie d'Italia – Piazza Scala in Milan, the exhibition Art awakens the soul, promoted by the Florence Autism Association, L'Imaginary and Friends of the Hermitage Museum Italy with Intesa Sanpaolo.
From March 30th to June 3rd, works of art created by people with autism spectrum disorders will be on display in the Bank's museum, as part of an international project of social and cultural inclusion for the promotion of a culture on autism that reveals unusual talents and abilities against clichés and prejudices.
Born from an idea of the director of the Hermitage, Mikhail Piotrovski, and curated by Cristina Bucci, Art awakens the soul right from the title it expresses the importance for autistic people to bring to light and communicate their emotions not through words, but with a functional and humanizing language such as art, in its various forms. The project, which took off in April 2017 from Florence, has now reached its fifth stage after Pistoia, Rome and Brescia.
Over 60 works tell the infinite score of the human soul, found in the abstract or figurative subjects resulting from the imagination or the emulative spirit of the artists, 18 men and women from all over Italy and of different ages, who offer a meditated and original reading of works by Caravaggio or Chagall. It is to them and to other greats such as Giotto, Marini, Fattori, that some artists have looked, managing to be appreciated for the pictorial technique and the originality of interpretation with respect to the masterpieces of the Masters. Others, on the other hand, have explored experience or imagination with brushstrokes or simpler signs, but still revealing a marked personality, with their own stylistic code.
Ceramic plates and trays made by six Tuscan artists exhibited in the exhibition as well as the creation of the work come from the ceramic laboratory of the MAiC, the rehabilitation health center in support of disabled people in Pistoia Brothers, piece of the polyptych believe, conceived by a collective of six guys from Rome. The exhibition itinerary is completed by the installation by Roberta Biondini, a young student of the Carrara Academy of Fine Arts in Bergamo, entitled medium, specially created for the Gallerie d'Italia: a pattern of words on a multimedia screen which in the artist's vision becomes a work of art itself.
As an educational space as well as an exhibition, Gallerie d'Italia makes use of its long experience with special audiences by opening up to a rich calendar of collateral activities animated by the associations promoting the project, starting from the month of April, dedicated to autistic awareness. From 4 April to 11 May there will be a series of meetings with family members and educators of autistic people, multi-sensory visits to the exhibition and to part of the permanent collection of the twentieth century in Piazza Scala for small groups of people with autism spectrum disorders (19 and 20 April; 9 and 10 May). In the same exhibition context, a training course aimed at museum educators and educators specialized in autism will take place, aimed at sharing experiences and developing the skills necessary for the creation of new museum programs accessible to people with autism spectrum disorders.
"Anyone who has a daily relationship with autistic people due to fate or professional choice knows very well how difficult it is to understand what lies behind appearances ". explains Anna Maria Kozarzewska, scientific coordinator of the project. “Appearances that often deceive and lead to negative judgments, rejection and social isolation. The project is an attempt to make autism perceived in a different way, to allow those who are not 'in the trade' to enter that fascinating world full of surprises, to discover the unexpected abilities that can manifest themselves in different fields. We hope it will help change the widespread perception of the autistic condition”.
“Particular attention has always been paid to “fragilities” and special audiences in the cultural programming of the Gallerie d'Italia. We believe that there can be no enhancement of our collections and palaces without a commitment to making them accessible to all. The Galleries want to be an open place, capable of involving and involving different audiences, where art becomes a tool for expressing one's creativity and promoting greater social inclusion" comments Michael Coppola, Intesa Sanpaolo Central Director of Art, Culture and Historical Heritage.
The exhibition catalogue, written in three languages – Italian, English, Russian - is introduced by an essay by the psychologist Giuseppe Maurizio Arduino. The graphic design is by Gonzalo Sanchez and Christina Pfeifer. The photographs are by Aurelio Amendola and Caroline Elo. It is published by Polistampa (176 pages, 23,00 Euros).
