Exhibit from April 6th to May 19th 2019 by Marta Santacatterina, in collaboration with the Museum of Chinese Art and Ethnography as part of the 4th edition of PARMA 360, the Festival of Contemporary Creativity.
Exhibit La stratégie du camouflage, Aqua Aura - Sweet November
On the occasion of the 4th edition of PARMA 360, Festival of contemporary creativity, our Museum is pleased to present the exhibit "La stratégie du camouflage" by artist Aqua Aura , an exhibit curated by Marta Santacatterina .
The contemporary works of Aqua Aura establish a profound dialogue with the millenary memories of distant civilizations, highlighting the long period that underlies natural, artistic and cultural expressions.
Emblematic in this sense is the video “ Millennial Tears” which opens with the immense sceneries of the Arctic glaciers, and with the sounds produced by those solids of water - so essential for the planet Earth - to the narrow field of vision from the infinitely large to the infinitely small, investigating the universe of tears as ancient Jewish songs resound.
The relentless transformation of life finds its aesthetic manifestation in the two new series “Sweet November” and “Carnal Still Life”, in which the digital creativity of photographic images blend the environment of nature and typically urban objects with microscopic enlargements of cells, human tissues, viruses and parasites. They return on the one hand the complexity of a life form and, on the other, the environment in which we live and the complexity of contemporary artistic reflection.
Finally, “The Gift”presents in glass showcases enclosed by tulle ribbons, one of the greatest dangers that threaten human life: crazy cells - also disguised by a bewitching appearance - which, directly or indirectly, everyone in the world must face with, sooner or later, by defeating them or facing the deadly and dramatic outcome.
Video-installation “Millennial Tears”
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES AQUA AURA He graduated at the Brera Academy of Fine Arts in Milan, in 2009. After a gap which allowed him to move away from the frenetic life of contemporary art, the artist Aqua Aura was born, and in 2016 settled definitively in Milan. His creativity has continued in various forms: the understanding of the great spaces of nature, traveling and visiting art museums and scientific research laboratories, investigating studies on astronomical and particle physics, biogenetics - also thanks to a collaborative relationship with the Italian Research Foundation for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis -, the philosophy and psychology of observation. His language has moved mainly in the field of digital art and photography, and recent developments have led him to new languages with the production of short films, video-art works, installation and video-sculptural projects. He has exhibited in many international institutions, galleries and museums (in Berlin, Istanbul, Barcelona, Maastricht, Helsinki) and has participated in numerous art fairs in Europe.
THE MUSEUM OF CHINESE ART AND ETHNOGRAPHY The Museum of Chinese Art and Ethnography is considered as one of the most important Chinese art museums in the world. The Museum was founded in 1901, when Senator Lampertico of Vicenza donated some valuable pieces of Chinese art to San Guido Maria Conforti, Bishop of Parma and Founder of the Xaverian Missionaries. From this first donation the Museum was born, which today has become the material witness of the constant attention paid to non-European cultures, thanks to the continuous contributions of the Xaverian missionaries in the world. Until the 1950s, the Xaverians present in China collected significant pieces from almost all dynasties. Later on, the museum enriched itself of predominantly ethnographic collections from other geographical areas such as Africa, Japan, Indonesia and Mexico, along with valuable donations from private collectors. 118 years after its foundation, the Museum inaugurated its new look in 2012.
PARMA 360 FESTIVAL OF CONTEMPORARY CREATIVITY In its fourth edition, the PARMA 360 Festival of Contemporary Creativity is the festival dedicated to contemporary Italian creativity and the emerging scene in arts. The rich schedule of exhibits and events includes gigantic sculptural installations, pictorial altarpieces, hand-drawn papers, multimedia projections, olfactory journeys and augmented reality. Keeping in mind that Parma has been designated as the Italian Capital of Culture for 2020, the PARMA 360 Festival aims to promote and circulate contemporary art and youthful creativity with initiatives that encourage participation and involvement of wide audiences, with particular attention to the new generations and families. At the base of PARMA 360 planning, there is the idea of urban regeneration and valorization of city spaces for an active involvement of its community. The Festival, in fact, shows and promotes the already existing artistic heritage of a real-life museum throughout its territory, enhancing through contemporary art deconsecrated churches, historic buildings and spaces of industrial archeology not always known by the people in the city.
