The book Au Revoir traces the homonymous project of the artist, curated by Connecting Cultures, who gathered around him scholars, curators, geographers, botanists, human rights specialists, Museum directors, migrants from North Africa in a choral portrait of the Mediterranean and its populations, drawing a hope for the future. A journey through space and time along the basin of the Mare Nostrum, through the paths traced by jeans, fabric of ancient origins, great protagonist of the history of fashion and modern and contemporary costume.
Winner of the 2019 Italian Council, the project tackles the complex theme of the identity of the Mediterranean through one of its oldest artisanal traditions: the weaving of a sturdy cotton wet in indigo or woad transported around the world, forgotten metaphor of the culture of the Middle Sea, today known as jeans. Far beyond the transformation of denim into a work of art, the Au Revoir project wisely urges us to reflect on the importance of identity, memory, borders and exchanges of the Mare Nostrum. In this way, art is a catalyst tool to tackle great issues, using denim, a fabric that connects past civilizations with the present, returning the image of a living Mediterranean, a place of relationships and contacts.
The project has given rise to an exhibition, currently underway at the Carré d’Art – Musée d’Art Contemporain in Nimes: a unique installation of high aesthetic value consisting of a series of tapestries embroidered in jeans and small bronze castings. Later the works will enter the permanent collection of the Museo del Novecento in Milan in autumn 2020.
The Au Revoir project is realized thanks to the support of the MiBACT and in collaboration with the Museo del Novecento and the Municipality of Milan. Project partners: Carré d’Art – Musée d’Art Contemporain de Nîmes; Fondazione per il Tessile and Museo del Tessile di Chieri; Dos Mares di Marsiglia; NABA – Accademia di Belle Arti di Milano; Accademia Carrara di Bergamo; U-BOOT Lab; Farsi Prossimo Onlus. Project sponsor: Berto – Industria Tessile.
Sensitive to the themes of sustainable development, the environment, memory and landscape, Ettore Favini’s work (Cremona, 1974) addresses the concept of identity, looking for new dimensions. Favini’s works are the open synthesis of a multitude, the meeting place of a plurality of experiences that escape too rigid concepts of unity and totality. Favini has won several national and international awards and his works have been exhibited in important institutions in Europe, North America and Asia.
Project realized thanks to the support of the Direzione Generale Creatività Contemporanea del Ministero per i Beni e le Attività Culturali e per il Turismo within the Italian Council (2019) program.
