ROME.- Four site-specific installations that transform the museum space inside and out, 3,015 portfolios of young artists, 150 videos and 2 online databases, an “open call” to all those artists who have yet to present their work to the public: MAXXI presents the Italian XXI Century.

ITALIAN CONTEMPORARY ART PRIZE
The four finalists, all under 40, in the first edition of the Italian Contemporary Art Prize promoted by MAXXI are Rosa Barba, Rossella Biscotti, Gianluca and Massimiliano De Serio and Piero Golia. From 4 December 2010 to 20 March 2011 MAXXI is dedicating an exhibition to the group of artists and their site-specific installations conceived and produced for the museum.

Episodes in recent Italian history and the most burning current issues sit alongside more intimate themes as the four projects constantly alternate idioms and establish a dialogue between art and architecture. Italy’s “Years of Lead” are re-examined in the installation by Rossella Biscotti (Molfetta – BA, 1978) dedicated to the Aula Bunker (the Fencing Academy at the Foro Italico). The drama of the Somali political refugees and the theme of immigration are central to the video by Gianluca and Massimiliano De Serio (Turin, 1978). The “hidden” museum of the storerooms features in the film by Rosa Barba (Agrigento, 1972), while Pietro Golia (Naples, 1974) confuses the spectator by shifting his point of view.

CONTEMPORANEO.DOC/DOCVA
Saturday 4 December also saw the inauguration of the Contemporaneo.doc project devoted to the activities of the leading Italian and international archives and documentation centres. The first appointment is with DOCVA, the archive run by Careof and Viafarini, which for years has undertaken an intensive didactic, and exhibition programme, promoting the art of the latest generations. Contemporaneo.doc is a project of MAXXI BASE curated by Giulia Ferracci e Carolina Italiano.

In an innovative approach to contemporary creativity, the public has the opportunity to consult the portfolios of 3,015 young Italian artists, watch 150 videos and access 5 online databases (www.docva.org). Cultural mediators trained by DOCVA, MAXXI and Rome’s La Sapienza University are on hand to assist the public, while seminars and debates opened the exhibition to contributions by artists, critics, curators and specialists in other disciplines.

A great opportunity for young artists: the archive will continue to be fully operational and will constantly enrich the exhibition with portfolios selected via the OPEN CALL ROME- Open Archive. Through to 1 February 2010, artists may send in their portfolios to MAXXI. The curators from Careof, Viafarini and MAXXI will select around 50 artists who will have the opportunity to present their portfolios in person to Chiara Agnello, Milovan Farronato and Mario Gorni The selected portfolios will each be added to those already exhibited and will remain in the Milan archive. The exhibition will be open through to 13 February 2011.

With the Italian Contemporary Art Prize and Contemporaneo.doc/DOCVA, MAXXI is underlining once more its mission: to research and support contemporary artists, to produce exhibitions, events and projects enriching the collection, to propose itself as an international point of reference for Italian art born in collaboration with MAXXI Art.