Italians across the Ocean. Stories of artists in mid-twentieth century modern and native Brazil

Between 1930 and 1950 two art critics, Pietro Maria Bardi and Margherita Sarfatti; an architect, Lina Bo Bardi; and two artists, Gastone Novelli and Roberto Sambonet, set out for Brazil, each with different goals and expectations. The works and ideas they brought with them left a mark on the country’s young arts scene. The encounter with new processes of urban evolution and the emerging modernist and concretist aesthetics opened up new perspectives for Italian artists and intellectuals, while providing the opportunity to build upon ideas that had already been budding in their native country. The enormous historical and geographic scope of native Brazilian culture had a profound impact on their careers, which the exhibition showcases through works of art, objects, and documents. In particular, the exhibition highlights the artistic relations between Italy and Brazil over the course of the 20th century. It documents personal and intellectual journeys intertwined with the history of art and cultures. At the same time, Brazil’s immense material and immaterial heritage is presented in a selection of objects and images from MUDEC’s Amazonian collection donated by Aldo Lo Curto.
Promoter: MUDEC, Department of Cultural and Environmental Heritage of Università degli Studi di Milano, with the patronage of General Consulate of Brazil in Milan and with the support of GAVIO. The exhibition is curated by Paolo Rusconi (Università degli Studi di Milano) with Elisa Camesasca (Archivio Roberto Sambonet), Ana Gonçalves Magalhães (Universidade de São Paulo), Viviana Pozzoli (Università degli Studi di Milano), Marco Rinaldi (Archivio Gastone Novelli)