An exhibition project spreading fragmented identities, and analysing the archive, its ontology and practices: artworks by Visual Arts Department students will be on show at Triennale Milano. "Voicing the Archive" will open on May 9 and close with “Yesterday I went diving into the archive: nine conversations”, a public event held by students and alumni of the MA in Visual Arts and Curatorial Studies on May 16. Below is the information about the exhibition in Milan.  

"Voicing the Archive": event information  

Triennale Milano, viale Emilio Alemagna 6, Milan 

Exhibition opening: Tuesday, May 9, from 6:00 PM 

The exhibition will be open from May 10 to 16, from 11:00 AM to 8:00 PM (it will not be possible to visit it on Monday, May 15) 

Public event “Yesterday I went diving into the archive: nine conversations”: Tuesday, May 16, 4:00 PM. 

Mandatory booking on Triennale Milano’s website.

The exhibition in Milan: concept e credits  

The archive symbolises a portal capable of uniting and mixing different realities, allowing the emergence of new fusions and connections in a continuous evolution. It is a physical and personal place, it deals with memory and power. It has a public and private dimension. It is an alternative source of inspiration to the traditions and memories of the world, and it is here that the unceasing stratification and de-stratification of time can offer new possibilities for change. Archiving can be a participatory device of reinterpretation and subversion, which allows history to be re-written by giving voice to unrealised futures and unfinished pasts. 

"Voicing the Archive" stems from the desire to unite and record fragmented and sometimes distant identities, bringing them together to produce often spatial and timeless dialogues and exchanges. By so doing, the intention is to create new approaches and perspectives in archiving, allowing us to reflect critically and in-depth on the search for its ontology. 

The May 9 opening will be accompanied by a series of performances taking place in the exhibition space and Giardino di Triennale Milano. On May 16 will take place “Yesterday I went diving into the archive: nine conversations”, the final event that will see a public and immersive speech about the possibilities of the archive. Here, the exhibition concept and the emerging artists' practices will be explored through nine focuses. NABA students (Francesca Barberi, Elisabetta Calligaro, Caterina Fulcis and Valentina D’Aprile, Francesca Grossi, Teresa Lafuente, Elena Marcon, Greta Martina, Alberto Navilli, Barbara Niniano, Alessia Riva, Federica Rizzo) and alumni (Valentina Avanzini, Sofia Baldi Pighi, Alessia Baranello and Arianna Tremolanti, Arnold Braho, Gabriella Kolandra, Chiara Lupi, Tommaso Pagani, Paola Pietronave) will describe the plurality of meanings, moderated by Letizia Mari. They will explore the deepness of the lake - the metaphor at the core of the exhibition project. Such a lake hides, reveals, guards, sediments and raises non-linear fragments to tell and rewrite history. Next to it, Marco Scotini will present his latest publication "L'inarchiviabile. L'archivio contro la storia" (Meltemi editore) in a dialogue with Luca Cerizza, curator, art critic and NABA lecturer, and Luca Vitone, artist and NABA lecturer. To participate, booking on Triennale Milano’s website is mandatory.

"Voicing the Archive" comes from a draft by Andris Brinkmanis (Bachelor of Arts in Painting and Visual Arts Course Leader) and Marco Scotini (Visual Arts Department Head). 

The works of art are by BA in Painting and Visual Arts students and MA in Visual Arts and Curatorial Studies students from both Milan and Rome campus: Susanna Acinapura, Chiara Antonelli, Roberta Argenta, Davide Barberi, Isabel Bergant, Edoardo Bonacina, Elisabetta Bottura, Cecilia Carmine, Elisa Ceccoli, Elisa Ceneri, Fiordi Cielo, Camilla De Siati, Barbara De Veteris, Xizi Du, Maria Esposito, Maia Evangelisti, Marie Nicole Gianfrate, Giorgio Mattia, Camilla Gurgone, Nicolò Minisi, Chiara Meloni, Chiara Nicoletti, Daniela Noviello, Alex Parrotto, C. Sidonie Pellegrino, Giulia Piatti, Chiara Smedile, Alessandro Sorrentino, Marco Resta, Oranee Thawatpongsri, Vismayee.

The exhibition was curated by Milan and Rome campus students of the MA in Visual Arts and Curatorial Studies: Francesca Barberi, Elisabetta Calligaro, Chaitanya Chavan Santosh, Luisa Flores, Irene Follador, Francesca Grossi, Merve Korkmaz, Teresa Lafuente, Greta Martina, Alberto Navilli, Barbara Niniano, Alessia Riva, Federica Rizzo, Alessia Vespa.

Exhibition Coordinator: Letizia Mari   

Setting up: Nicolò Colciago.  

Special Thanks: Guido Tattoni, Silvia Simoncelli, Caterina Iaquinta, Vasco Forconi, Gabriele Sassone, Elvira Vannini, Shuai Yin, Dario Pecoraro.

Cover: Visual Identity by Giordano Cruciani