«When Michelangelo talked about his art he told me that films are born from an intuition, from a look. A subtle but so profound intuition, close to poetry, which finds the frightening urgency of having to be realized. In the same way, the idea of creating “Spazio Antonioni”, the new museum that the city of Ferrara dedicates to the director, was born.”
Thus Enrica Fico, the widow of Michelangelo Antonioni, presented the new exhibition space which opens today in Ferrara, paying homage to one of the masters of contemporary cinema, born in the city of Este in 1912 and buried here in the monumental cemetery of the Certosa.
The new “Spazio Antonioni” is in Palazzo Massari, the beautiful building immersed in the park of Corso Porta Mare 5, which until recently housed the contemporary art pavilion. Completely redesigned by the Alvisi Kirimoto studio, the rooms host notes, scene photographs, letters, documents, records, posters that tell the story of the director’s career, from the first documentaries to the trilogy “L’avventura”, “L’eclipse”, “La notte ”, to the visionary “Blow Up” and “Zabriskie Point”, to the latest films shot again in Italy.
«This space collects the complete work of a master who crossed the boundaries of cinema. A space that has an international value and which is intended for future generations”, commented Wim Wenders who wanted to participate in the ribbon cutting even if via video connection.
And it is truly a dive into the most hidden world of Antonioni because the director’s working materials are accompanied by objects that tell of his passions, his daily life. Visions that were fueled by the works of artists such as Alberto Burri or Filippo De Pisis, by music, by poetry. Antonioni himself loved to paint, as evidenced by the large canvases of the “The Enchanting Mountains” series, created in the Seventies and collected on the upper floor of Palazzo Massari.
«This seems like our house because Michelangelo loved to surround himself with these objects – Enrica Fico still remembers – In particular he kept the Oscar statuette close to him because he said it brought him joy. In 1995 we decided to donate this archive consisting of 47 thousand pieces to the Municipality of Ferrara and today it is returned to the public. But I would like the whole city to become “Michelangelo Antonioni’s space”, contaminating the walls of the buildings.”
The “Spazio Antonioni” will certainly host many initiatives: exhibitions, meetings, screenings. «It will be a living space», promises Dominique Païni, former director of the Cinémathèque Française, curator of the exhibition project which has the support of a committee joined by Gian Luca Farinelli, Thierry Frémaux, Wim Wenders, Alfonso Cuarón, Jonas Carpignano, Walter Salles, Irène Jacob, Sophie Marceau, Giorgio Tinazzi.
Meanwhile, the public will be able to delve into Antonioni’s world, rediscovering how deep his ties were with his land and the Po Valley mists, which are the metaphor of his gaze: in the display cases the beautiful stage photographs of “Il grido” appear, filmed between Bondeno, Copparo, Occhiobello.
And we still get lost reading the documents that reconstruct the dialogues with colleagues, intellectuals and artists of the time. Like the letter sent by Fellini in 1953 in which the Rimini director wrote: «I wanted to tell you that only the day before yesterday I saw “The Vanquished” and as always you moved me».
The exhibition is open from Tuesday to Sunday 10am-1pm/3pm-6.30pm.
