From its title, the project evokes "Campo Urbano", the artistic event curated by Luciano Caramel who occupied the public spaces of Como on 21 September 1969 with ephemeral and often unsettling interventions for the citizens and public opinion of Como. The exhibition provoked an in-depth debate among the curators and critics of the time on the exhibitions that were multiplying in the streets and squares of the Italian towns between 1968 and '69. In the midst of the protest and anti-authoritarian movements that blossomed in 1968, and the consequent occupation of the streets by students and workers, "Campo Urbano", like other exhibitions of recent years, sought a new contact with the reality of everyday life and with a wider audience than just art lovers.

Organized as a two-day conference and an exhibition, "Campo Umano - Public Art 50 Years Later" celebrates the fiftieth anniversary of that exhibition-event, analyzing its successes and failures, in the historical-artistic and social context of the time. At the same time, the project wants to re-discuss the possibilities and today's forms of public art, in a political, social and technological scenario where the very idea of space and public good, the concept of collectivity and community, have profoundly changed with respect to that era.

The conference
Divided into two days, the conference sees the participation of artists, critics, curators among the most significant voices on the subject.
On Saturday the forms of public art that took place in Italy between the late 60s and early 70s will be discussed (Alessandra Acocella, Luca Cerizza, Alessandra Pioselli, Francesco Tedeschi). In this context, the case of "Campo Urbano" will be investigated, through the testimony of some of its protagonists ( Giuliano Collina, Mario Di Salvo, Ugo La Pietra, Gianni Pettena and Grazia Varisco ).
Sunday will focus on the most recent developments in public art, with particular attention to the reality of European and Asian metropolises and megalopolises, and to the relationship with a social, political and technological context profoundly changed by marketing, privatization and surveillance strategies. typical of advanced capitalism. The interventions by Zasha Colah, Hou Hanru, Roberto Pinto and Marco Scotini will discuss some strategies of artistic intervention in the public spaces of different geographical areas, while a round table with the participation of scholars, curators and artists ( Massimo Bartolini, Cecilia Guida, Margherita Moscardini and others) will close the conference.

The exhibition
Through documents from the artists' archives, original editorial material (designed by Bruno Munari) and a rich video and photographic documentation, the exhibition will reconstruct the events of "Campo Urbano". Together with the key role played by the documentation of Ugo Mulas for the diffusion of "Campo Urbano", the exhibition will present unpublished images by Gianni Berengo Gardin and Gabriele Basilico.

Conference : 21 and 22 September 2019, Villa Olmo (via Simone Cantoni 1, Como)

Exhibition: 21 September - 26 October 2019, borgovico33 (via Borgo Vico 33, Como)