We chose to give this 5th Di Carta / Papermade exhibition a title with a broad scope, that can be freely interpreted by artists’ creative approach and personal ideas.

The second term of the title -paper- leads artists to focus on its material qualities. Paper can be either the support or the subject of artworks. By its very nature fragile and perishable, yet also eco-friendly, malleable, versatile and illusionistic, paper can convey ethical, social, and environmental implications.

The adjective fragile, on the other hand, is meant to inspire deep thoughts on a theme that is crucial both in art and literature: the fragility of human life. This traditional theme finds new life in the second term of the title -with paper replacing, for example, grass o ashes- and in the reminder of an epidemic that has suddenly wiped out the distance between us and the Dance of Death of the Middle Ages. It has also undermined the sense of unpunished omnipotence that pervades the human being and our civilization, which relies on the short-sighted logic of individualistic utilitarianism and on the indiscriminate -and ultimately self-defeating- exploitation of the planet’s resources.

If the subject of this fragility remains unknown, we could try to move beyond our anthropocentric worldview, towards an ecological and eco-critical perspective that gives importance to a wider number of subjects.
The relationships among living creatures -and between them and the increasingly small and united ecological group within the global village- appear to be a fragile and yet incredibly rich net.

Standing on the threshold of the door, shouldn’t we acknowledge the full extent of this fragility, so that it can take us down unexplored paths, just like paper? What if this acknowledgement is the only viable road to happiness?

The curator Valeria Bertesina

The exhibition catalogue is available.

Works 5th Edition

Artists 5th Edition