PAOLO MORELLI - Corriere della Sera
An exhibition on the environment has drawn a dozen artists from around the world to Turin, The exhibition, Fragile Soil, Fertile Souls, will run until March 3 and will be the centre of events open to the public
“The role of our institution is to build educational programmes. We are working on the development of countries, and we have a critical and strategic point of view”. This was said by Courtenay Rattray, Chef de Cabinet of the UN General Secretariat when he opened an exhibition at Valentino Bar on the UN campus on viale Maestri del Lavoro in Turin the day before yesterday.The theme is the environment, with a dozen artists from around the world selected by the curator, Giulia Colletti, formerly on the staff of Castello di Rivoli and involved in several international projects. The exhibition, Fragile Soil, Fertile Souls, is organised with the International Association for the Biennial of Young Creators of Europe and the Mediterranean (BJCEM), will remain on display until March 3 and will be the focus of events open to the public.To enter the Campus you need to be registered, but you can request information on how to access the upcoming initiatives by email (by writing to:info@unssc.org). “We have already opened an exhibition at the Polo del *900 )Centre of the 20th century)”, says Federica Candelaresi, president of BJCEM “and other initiatives linked to climate change, starting with food and sustainable agriculture. The artist cannot give solutions but can offer suggestions”.This can seen in the work of Giuliana Rosso from Turin, whose work, entitled Tutte le parole prima di pronunciarle (All the words, before you speak them), is inspired by Natalia Ginzburg's book Le piccole virtù (The small virtues) and imagines a threatening future, especially in terms of food, where much is played out in non-direct communication between people (like two young people drawn in a part of the site-specific installation). “Paradoxical abstracts," he explains,” in a drawing that starts on the wall and extends to the table, like in the imagination.The idea is to start from the current reality to imagine future scenarios, sometimes terrible, sometimes more optimistic. In general, there is a perceived urgency to act. “We are trying to focus on solutions,” Rattray stresses, “and we are determined to change old habits. There are different approaches”. The exhibition is also an opportunity to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the campus, the United Nations System Staff College (UNSSC) managed by Jafar Java). “Artistic work is a driving force,” he says, “to help people understand problems. This is the first time we are organising an exhibition and we are trying to promote certain topics (just after the last global climate conference, Ed.). The city is very supportive and the deputy mayor, Michela Favaio, was also present at this inauguration. We work with military institutions and banking foundations”.With the aim of increasing collaboration and joint projects. “The fact that we are here is no accident,” comments Giulia Colletti, “because the cornerstone is education (UN leaders come to the campus to train, Ed.). We take the concept of fragility as an approach to forget anti-ecological practices and relearn. We need to understand what a place like this can offer us. We are on the banks of the Po, which refers back to water, another very important subject, and we bring international artists to think about what methods we can rediscover in the others”.How to enter the Campus. To enter the Campus you need to be registered, but you can request information on how to access the upcoming initiatives by email (by writing to: info@unssc.org). The exhibition is also an opportunity to celebrate 20 years of activity of the campus of the United Nations System Staff College.