A consortium of galleries to enhance the Italian territory: a conversation with Lorenzo Fiaschi
Lorenzo Fiaschi
Welcome back Lorenzo, how are you? Where are you at the moment?
I have just arrived in Milan for the inauguration of the Chen Zhen exhibition at HangarBicocca.
I have read about your latest project, ITALICS, can you tell me about it? How did it come about?
The project came about following a conversation with Pepi Marchetti Franchi, director of the Gagosian gallery in Rome. We liked the idea of being able to accomplish something together in Rome, then, with the onset of Covid-19, the discourse diminished. After a while we started talking about it again: thinking about how widespread the phenomenon of e-commerce and viewing rooms was, we understood that what we were interested in was giving life to a project with content, which would enhance Italy through the eyes of gallery owners. We agreed and we began to reflect on how to go forward, thinking of inviting 7 other colleagues to form a selection committee and invite other Italian galleries, with the desire to embrace the whole culture, therefore from ancient, to modern, to contemporary. With great surprise all the invited galleries accepted, not only the 35 galleries that we had budgeted in our business plan, so today the are 63 galleries involved. It was a real surprise, you know, because gallery owners in Italy are not used to networking, everyone has their own methodology, their own vision … We therefore kicked off the project effectively by bringing together the committee of 9 galleries and, together with all the other galleries involved, paying the participation fee to create the consortium.
You’re off to a great start!
Yes, we consulted experts and formed a consortium, because for this type of project it seemed to be the most valid formula. The first daughter of the consortium is the platform, which does not want to be an e-commerce, but a space for the development of Italian heritage, such as the the basic idea of ITALICS, of wanting to show Italy through the eyes of gallery owners. We want to abandon the idea of an Italy of clichés “pizza and mandolin” and instead demonstrate Italy’s peculiarities, of the folds that the general public, especially foreigners, do not know about and make them visible through the lens of every gallery owner, each with his own sensitivity, creating a full spectrum of a different Italy.
How will it work? There will be itineraries, advice …
Each gallery owner will recommend some tips, embracing all the excellences, from the fresco of a church, to a particular restaurant. All-round excellence, from the artisan, to the historical, to the enogastronomic … For example, maybe a collector or an art lover is more pleased to go and eat in a restaurant recommended by a gallery owner, Massimo Minini , to say, in Brescia, where maybe he went to eat with the artists…
I understand perfectly, with My Art Guides we have more or less the same criteria with our editorial selection committees. I think of the committee we had for Mexico City, in that case they were more intent on recommending restaurants than art spaces! This is to say that I feel this project is very similar to what we have been doing for some time, not through gallery owners, but through people in the art-world who provide their tips and advice on each city. We do it on a more global level, in Italy we covered Milan, Venice, Turin and recently Tuscany with the My Art Guide Tuscany. The enhancement of the territory is a concept on which we have been working for many years. We started with some city guides called My Local Guides, in which there were advice from the inhabitants, thinking of Venice for example, the hyper-tourist city par excellence, the idea was to recommend particular places, starting from the assumption of wanting to avoid the “tourist trap” places. In your case, I believe that the advice of the gallery owners will be something the public will be very fond of.
Of course, it all starts with the desire to develop and enhance the territory, a bit like we did with Arte all’Arte. With each catalogue, there was an enogastronomic guide, with advice on where to taste and buy cold cuts, cheeses, wine, oil … they were guides edited by experts in the food sector and we really liked this combination.
Returning to ITALICS, we now have the platform, Instagram. Among the surprises of creating a system through digital and social media, we understood how this consortium is also helping gallery owners who are not used to using these new tools, to discover new possibilities of visibility, to learn how to use technology and social media as a medium and to be visible internationally. This is already an excellent result for us.
Do you think that the success of ITALICS, in addition to the fact that the project is promoted by very important galleries, is also due to the historical moment we are living through and the cancellation of fairs due to the pandemic? Or do you think rather that the common need to want to get back into the game, to find new ways to support the territory and create a system together was already there?
The support we have received is surely a symptom of this urgency of wanting to join forces and network. The galleries we interviewed in the selection committee have certainly given credibility to the project, besides me for Galleria Continua, and Pepi Marchetti Franchi di Gagosian, there is Alfonso Artiaco, Ludovica Barbieri for Massimo De Carlo, Massimo Di Carlo for Galleria dello Scudo, Francesca Kaufmann for kaufmann repetto, Massimo Minini, Franco Noero and Carlo Orsi. On the one hand, these names have certainly given strength and visibility to the project, on the other hand the period we are experiencing forces everyone to look for new paths. When there is a crisis, then there is a rebirth, I believe that in the world there is no consortium of galleries like this, there are many associations, of course, but this is not a trade association but a consortium that is linked to a common idea, which wants to commit every year to reviewing its priorities, to mobilise and to team up.
What will the return be for the participating galleries? Apart from enhancement and visibility?
In my opinion there are many benefits, such as the acquisition of new customers, for example. The platform becomes a collector of galleries, stimulates new interests, the collector can discover different worlds. To bring art lovers together on a platform is a bit like going to a fair, you go to find your gallery owner and make new contacts. It is not an e-commerce but it is a place of contact making, of new encounters. The project is in web mode, and is used to spread the word, but we hope that culture lovers will soon be able to return to travel and put all these tips into practice, and visit the galleries of interest.
We too are developing new projects to give more visibility to art spaces. Don’t you think all this breakdown of fairs will bring people back to the galleries? Have you noticed this trend?
I hope so and I believe that people will have a very different perception of big events. Maybe people will look for more privileged situations, on a more human scale …
Do you think this situation has given fairs a coup de grace, also given the success of online commerce? Or do you think that once the danger is over, people will want to return to fairs?
In my opinion there will also be a change in the frequency of the fairs themselves, maybe there will be less, maybe they should join. Italy, for example, could have one big fair. The underlying problem is that the fairs are run by multinationals and each thinks of their own earnings, in France they make only one and it has been working for years, because they concentrate all their energy there. The advantage of France, perhaps, is that the cultural centre, as well as the capital, is Paris, and no other city, while in Italy each region thinks it has its own capital, everyone wants to highlight its strength. In general, I believe that fairs will remain but will find a new way to re-invent themselves, creating new content, and aiming, as they are already doing, to provide their customers with more online visibility.
One last question on this – how did the “viewing rooms” go?
Some have gone well, some have not, but all have served to maintain the relationship with the customer, to stay on the scene and be visible, as well as to create new opportunities. They did not live up to the live fairs but they were useful, in addition to the fact that they did not ask for an important financial commitment, and something constructive came about.
Were there any positive sales experiences?
Yes, we’ve made some sales but it’s certainly not what it takes to get by. We have a lot of costs given the number of galleries and employees. But better than nothing!
And how is Galleria Continua reinventing itself to this new world order?
We try to make high quality projects… low cost! We try to be reasonable, like the exhibitions just inaugurated in San Gimignano, they are demanding yet considered. Let’s say we are trying to contain expenses.
Let’s hope that this time will be useful in learning how to do things differently, without things going to waste.
We try to stick together, and luckily we are almost more of a family than a team, and this helps us a lot. We are all united by a strong passion.
Thanks Lorenzo, it was nice to talk about this project and see how many common ideas there are between ITALICS and My Art Guides. I hope that strong connections will arise between us, given that we have this common affinity on the development of the Italian art scene.
It would be great, it’s in our DNA and it’s our passion
As you said, Italy is our strength, also because in addition to the large centres there are unique and authentic realities that make our country extremely rich.
We have other ideas in the hat! I can’t wait for the consortium to give birth to many children! We’ll let you know…
