The Small Utopia. Ars Multiplicata presented by the Fondazione Prada at Ca' Corner Della Regina in Venice! Xx

The Small Utopia. Ars Multiplicata

On July 5, 2012 The Small Utopia Ars Multiplicata exhibition 

by Fondazione Prada was inaugurated in Venice at Cà Corner della Regina, 

in the presence of Mrs. Miuccia Prada, 

Prada Group CEO Mr. Patrizio Bertelli, 

Fondazione Prada Director Mr. Germano Celant 

and the Mayor of Venice Mr. Giorgio Orsoni.

Gemano Celant, Patrizio Bertelli, Miuccia Prada and Giorgio Orsini

The exhibition is now open to the public till November 25, 2012.

We were in Venice on 5 July at the Prada Store

Above: Outside the Prada Store Venice 

Coral necklace and earrings from Pompeii, Jewelled Cross from the Vatican
Library Collection Rome,  Sunglasses Prada

But had to rush to the Marco Polo airport 

on the Vaporetto at exactly 6.15 from St Marks Square 

for our BA flight back to London otherwise we would have gone along.

Here are some details and pictures about this fantastic show:

Friday 6th July - Sunday 25th November 2012

The exhibition “The Small Utopia. Ars Multiplicata,” 

curated by Germano Celant, is being presented by the Fondazione Prada 

at Ca’ Corner della Regina in Venice.

The title is a reference to the desire, born at the beginning 

of the 20th century and pursued into the 1970s, 

to encourage the spread of art in society through the multiplication of objects,

 experimenting with unprecedented aesthetic and social uses for them.

On the ground floor and the first mezzanine,

 the exhibition explores the different media in which the boundaries 

of works dissolve, from artist’s books to magazines, from experimental films to radio.

These specific territories are divided into various sections located 

in different rooms: three are devoted to books and magazines;

 one examines the history of experimental cinema; 

one delves into vocal performance, recorded sound and radio; 

and one is entirely dedicated to artist’s recordings from the 1950s to the 1970s.

The central section of the exhibition, 

displayed on the second floor and in the second mezzanine, provides

                          a historical overview of the transformation of the idea of 

uniqueness in art and its perception.

This section includes over six hundred objects of design, 

ceramics, glassware, textiles, toys and editions 

of artist’s originals and multiples. 

It is an adventure marked by the emergence of new technological 

realities in which all the principal movements and schools played a part, 

from Italian Futurism to Russian Constructivism and Bauhaus, 

from Neoplasticism to Surrealism, reaching through Nouveaux Réalistes,

 Op Art and the radical approach

                      of the Fluxus artists the great explosion of ars multiplicity 

brought about by Pop Art, promoter of a true “supermarket” of the artistic object.

In view of the complexity ofThe Small Utopia, 

the broad span of time covered and the vast numbers of themes tackled, 

the Fondazione Prada delegated the investigation of some specific areas to the

 invaluable collaboration of international museums and experienced specialist curators, 

as had already been done at Ca’ Corner in 2011.

In particular, The Museum of Modern Art in New York 

lends a selection of works from the Gilbert and 

Lila Silverman Fluxus Collection given to the museum in 2008, 

while the Research Center for Artist’s Publications

 of the Museum Weserburg in Bremen and its director 

Anne Thurmann-Jajes have been given the

 responsibility for the section devoted to artist’s 

books and magazines as a paradigm of artistic 

interaction in the new forms of art in the sixties.

Among the various media, Antonio Somaini curates, 

with the collaboration of Marie Rebecchi, 

two rooms devoted to the history of the experimental 

film and the forays made by artists into the fields of vocal performance, 

recorded sound and radio broadcasting, while we can thank 

the expertise of Guy Schraenen for the detailed section devoted entirely 

to vinyl disks from the fifties.

On the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the first Fluxus festival in Europe (1962), 

Gianni Emilio Simonetti will organize the programming of Fluxus performances and concerts, 

repeated at intervals from September to November.

The exhibition will be accompanied by an extensive 

publication in English,The Small Utopia.

 Ars Multiplicata, edited by Germano Celant, 

with an introduction by Miuccia Prada and Patrizio Bertelli 

and numerous contributions from Beatriz Colomina, Elena Gigli, 

Charles Esche, Constance W. Glenn, Maria Gough, 

Magdalena Holzhey, Adina Kamien-Kazhadan, Karen Koehler, 

Liz Kotz, Tatyana Vasilevna Kuzmerova,

Ulrich Lehmann, Annette Malochet, Marie Rebecchi, 

Julia Robinson, Gianni Emilio Simonetti, Antonio Somaini, 

AnneThurmann-Jajes and Nicholas FoxWeber among others; 

500 pages, 600 ills., 

published by Progetto Prada Arte (Milan, 2012).

Details of the exhibition

Title:“The Small Utopia. Ars Multiplicata”, curated by Germano Celant

 Venue: Ca’ Corner Della Regina, 

Calle de Ca’ Corner, Santa Croce 2215 30135 Venezia, Linea 1, San Stae stop

 Duration: July 6 - November 25, 2012

Opening hours:10 am - 6 pm, closed onTuesdays; the ticket office closes at 5:30 pm 

Entrance:10 euro, people under 18 years and over 65 admitted free of charge

Info: tel. +39.02.54670515(Milan) tel. +39.041.8109161(Venice); www.fondazioneprada.org; info@fondazioneprada.org

Publication: The Small Utopia. Ars Multiplicata, Milan, Progetto Prada Art Srl

Vaporetto dell’Arte:  priority access, 15% discount on all publications

We also visited the Prada store in Rome on our Trip

look out for the stories to come! Xx

Until next time J Xx