Contemporary Paths - Dialogue between History, Museums, and Regions

This project is a product of collaboration between the Asilo Bianco Association, which manages the Tornielli Museum of Ameno, and the Municipality of Ascona, with its own Civic Museum of Modern Art. It aims to set off an ever-progressing network that uses contemporary art to promote and add value to the areas included in the project.

The joint project hopes to help realize encounters and open exchange between the artistic collections and stories about local cultural experiences that speak of the history of the two regions, as well as instructive and educational initiatives linked to the current projects of artists living in the involved areas; these connections serve the project as expressions of contemporaneity.

The project’s primary activity foresees the 2013 twinning of two young contemporary artists, Francesca Gagliardi and Luca Mengoni, from Lake Orta and Canton Ticino respectively, whose exhibitions will be displayed in both museums involved in the project.

In the year 2014, the Museum of Ascona will see the completion of a series of artwork dedicated to artists of the 1920s. In addition to the intrinsic value of the works on display, this historical exhibit will help observers come to a deeper understanding of the historical context of the decade through in-depth analysis: the Monte Verità (Mount Truth) experience, private donations, and artists featured in the museum.

The completion of artwork specifically for this project includes original subject matter created at the Campo Nomade Primaverile (Springtime Nomadic Field) in Sabbione, Valbavona (in the Canton Ticino region of Switzerland), which accompanies the aforementioned museum activities. This artwork will become part of the permanent collections of both museums.