The second neon sculpture of Vite operose, an art project by Valerio Rocco Orlando curated by Caroline Corbetta and commissioned by Guido Berlucchi, is displayed in the courtyard of GAMeC.
Vite operose (Industrious Lives) is a participatory and widespread art project dedicated to the theme of industriousness––curated by Caroline Corbetta and commissioned by Berlucchi Franciacorta––which was born, precisely, in Franciacorta, to be developed in the two cities Italian Capital of Culture 2023, in partnership with GAMeC of Bergamo and Fondazione Brescia Musei.
Vite operose consists of a series of three works of art created by involving as many communities in Franciacorta and the cities of Bergamo and Brescia, through a series of workshops, and designed to be exhibited in places freely accessible by the public.
The artwork at GAMeC, which has been included into the museum’s Collections thanks to a donation made by Guido Berlucchi, is the result of the dialogue between Valerio Rocco Orlando and a group of students from the Polytechnic of the Arts, a reality established through the merging of Giacomo Carrara Academy of Fine Arts and the city’s High School of Musical Studies.
Over the course of a series of workshops that took place last May, the artist encouraged students to question the relationship between the educational system and the workplace. This small but significant community set up a collective reflection on the city as a training territory for new generations.
In a similar way to what happened with the first work of the cycle, currently displayed on the Berlucchi Castle in Borgonato, the laboratory process led to the artist’ selection of this thought, which has been elaborated and transcribed by one of the students during these workshops.
“CHI DIVENTARE?” (WHO TO BECOME?)
A question the artist turned into a luminous neon sculpture, single edition handmade, now part of the GAMeC Collections. A question capable of embracing dreams, aspirations and fears of young people entering the workplace but which, after all, involves all citizens.
‘The workshops with the students of Bergamo Politecnico of the Arts activated trajectories, human mapping and geographies in order to rethink the urban dimension according to their own growth path,’ says Valerio Rocco Orlando. ‘Chi diventare? synthesises and expands this process by sharing with the city an existential question on the future of work.’
‘We are happy to welcome Valerio Rocco Orlando’s work into our Collection’ continues Lorenzo Giusti, Director of GAMeC. ‘Through a sensible gesture, this initiative – which Academia Berlucchi has promoted and supported – seals the successful ten-year relationship between the Bergamo School of Art and the city’s Gallery of Modern and Contemporary Art.’
‘Guido Berlucchi is historically located in the “Middle Land” that unites two important cultural hubs: Bergamo and Brescia. As a company that is very committed to the territory’s development and preservation, BGBS 2023 seemed to us the perfect opportunity to consolidate the union between these two cities, with the support of Academia Berlucchi and its participatory art project “Vite operose”. That’s why we chose GAMeC as the destination and partner for the second light sculpture’ says Cristina Ziliani, Guido Berlucchi’s co-owner and Director of External Relations.