ART on view Two Very Real Worlds The Ligabue Collection of Pre-Columbian Art Presented at the Museo Archeologico Nazionale in Florence The Museo Archeologico Nazionale in Florence is currently showing Il mondo che non c’era (The World That Didn’t Exist), an exhibition unprecedented 68 in Italy that offers a comprehensive panorama of the history of the great civilizations that developed in Central and South America while the very existence of these regions was unknown to the West. On view until March 6, 2016, the beauty and diversity of the nearly 230 artworks of stone, fi ber, terracotta, and feathers (to mention but a few of the materials) on display reveal the tremendous wealth of the artistic production of Mesoamerica, Central America, the Andean region, and the Amazon. While the subject matter is of great interest, the exhibition is also a vibrant homage to Giancarlo Ligabue, who passed away only a year ago. Ligabue was an entrepreneur, a paleontologist, a politician, an archaeologist, and, above all, a great lover of all things man has created. A resident of Venice, he formed an extremely important collection, pieces from which form the bulk of Il mondo che non c’era. We had the pleasure of visiting Venice and meeting Inti Ligabue, the man behind this exhibition and the son of this extraordinary individual for whom the span of a single life could not possibly have been enough for the pursuit of his varied interests. Tribal Art Magazine: Work on this exhibition began several years ago while your father was still alive. What inspired it? Inti Ligabue: Il mondo che non c’era is the result of my growing awareness of the importance of the collection that my father began to assemble nearly fi ve decades ago. I was born into a privileged place, Interview by Elena Martínez-Jacquet and our home, the Palazzo Erizzo, was full of fabulous works of Classical, Asian, and Pre-Columbian archaeology; ethnographic artifacts; beautiful Tuscan trecento objects; Renaissance and settecento paintings; wonderful old design pieces; and the list could go on. However, I did not truly realize how exceptional this collection was until about fi ve years ago when I began to work on an inventory and documentation project for it. Understanding that my family was the depository for a patrimony of such richness awakened a deep sense of responsibility in me. I found it absolutely necessary to fi nd a way to share it with the public. In that context, the idea of producing an exhibition seemed like an obvious choice. I chose to focus on Pre- Columbian for reasons of personal circumstance. My mother, Sylvia, was originally from Bolivia. Throughout her life, she made every effort to ensure that I should not lose sight of my American identity, and dedicating an exhibition to the grandeur of Pre-Columbian civilizations seemed like a reasonable way to explore my roots. FIG. 1 (above): Inti Ligabue (at left) with Jacques Blazy, curator of the exhibition Il mondo che non c’era. All installation and object photos presented here by P. Y. Dhinaut and Vincent Girier. All of the images in this article are © Archivio Fondazione Giancarlo Ligabue. The above-mentioned foundation grew out of the Centro Studi Ricerche Ligabue (CSRL) mentioned in this article. Its change in status was announced at a press conference January 25, the fi rst anniversary of the death of Giancarlo Ligabue. An exhibition and an Homage
•TribalPaginaIntera.indd
To see the actual publication please follow the link above