The promotion of Italian contemporary art will be the primary objective of the approach to the 17th edition of the Quadriennale. From 2018 to 2020 the institution of which Franco Bernabe is president will support young local artists and curators with initiatives and events aimed at the internationalization of our excellence.
In order to comply with the pre-established guidelines, explained Bernabè: “It will take a significant starting budget. Unfortunately the state no longer has the necessary funds, we need strong support from the private sector. Since the last edition of the Quadriennale we have saved 300 thousand euros, but for 2020 we need an amount that is a multiple of what we already have, the fundraising campaign has already begun".
Bernabè highlighted the main difficulties, linked to the financial side, encountered by entities such as the Quadriennale Foundation: “It is wrong to say that the public are not participating in the initiative. They do, but very often the funds they make available arrive two or three years after the events we have to organise, we cannot rely on them. The involvement of private participation is of vital importance for the success of the 17th edition”.
“It is not important to have a mere sponsor, but a group that is also interested from the point of view of communication in the development of a project that is in the interest of all the parties involved”, continued Bernabè.
For the first time in the history of the Quadriennale, founded in 1927, a formula was devised that provides for the figure of an artistic director. Sarah was chosen to play this delicate role Cosulich, selected from over 100 applicants.
"It will be a long and articulated path, consistent with our history and with the vocation of representing an institutional moment of enhancement of contemporary Italian art, also taking into account the difficulties that this sector has experienced in recent years", declared Franco Bernabè opening the press conference to present the next Quadriennale. The goal is to privilege the view of our art from the outside, to understand how others see and analyze our artists, to go beyond the confines.
Precisely for this reason, Franco Bernabè and Sarah Cosulich have chosen to embark on a networking path between Italian artists and curators, to bring out the excellences. Stimulating dialogue and the exchange of ideas on the territory, while at the same time increasing the prospects and visibility of Italian artists through their promotion abroad: this will be the approach for the three-year period 2018-2020. In this way, the Quadriennale will be able to take on an even more international dimension.
The next three years will be characterized by three separate initiatives, strongly desired by the artistic director and supported by President Bernabè. Q2020 represents the preparatory path of research and analysis that will lead to the 2020 Art Quadrennial. Q-RATED instead it is a broader training initiative linked to the Italian territory which foresees a series of workshops (3 a year, in different Italian cities for 10 young artists and curators who will be able to dialogue with international colleagues) and a symposium, organized in Rome, designed to enrich the perspectives of the artists and their openness to the outside. To conclude, Q-INTERNATIONAL provides for the creation of a scientific committee that will financially support and not only foreign institutions (art houses, galleries, museums) that host exhibitions of Italian artists.
