Fino al 29 febbraio, al Centre National d’Art Vivant di Tunisi è aperta la mostra di Agostino Ferrari Signes de Rencontre, curata dalla storica dell’arte Martina Corgnati e organizzata in collaborazione con l’Istituto Italiano di Cultura di Tunisi.
On the occasion, Ferrari – born in Milan in 1938 and for the first time displaying his works in a North African country – gave an important performance together with Nja Mahdaoui (1937), the eminent calligrapher and artist of Tunisian birth and Italian education.
On February 3rd, from 4 p.m up to 6 p.m, in front of the public, Ferrari and Mahdaoui painted together a big canvas, collating their respective cultures and traditions and, specifically, the abstract sign Ferrari has been working on for five decades and the arabic calligraphy Mahdaoui has, in the progress of time, divested of significance and turned into a sensitive, lively and free gesture..
Such significant meeting was met with immense enthousiasm from the public and the Tunisian art world, that literally stormed the “Centre d‘Art Vivant “ halls during the performance, covering up with signs, writings and messages a five metres long canvas Ferrari had partially painted and then left at everybody’s disposal.
It’s the first time that, together, an Italian and an Arab artist start, in “real time”, a creative course rich in discoveries and aesthetic potentials, which might turn out to be crucial in such momentous times Tunisia is passing through.
Agostino Ferrari’s journey to Tunisia and his meeting Tunisian artists and craftsmen were recorded step by step by young Torinese movie director Matteo Bernardini, who will presently edit an interesting art documentary out of them.
Agostino Ferrari and Nja Mahdaoui’s joint performance and exhibition will soon take place in Italy too.
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