PARMA
20.04.18 / 01.07.18
Palazzo del Governatore
Piazza Garibaldi 19

Our time is the result of a deep change. It is so deep that even the eternal elements of nature have been modified. Earth, air and water are no longer miraculous repositories of the life described thousands of years ago in the book of Genesis. The desire to protect oneself from their threatening and dark turbulence was progressively transformed by the scientific thinking and technological development in an obsession of domination, solely devoted to exploitation and profit. In a self-destructive cycle, no care is dedicated to the fact that the enrichment of humans corresponds to a proportional impoverishment of their world. Today the risk of a catastrophe is real, tangible every day, and plagues are foll

Our time is the result of a deep change. It is so deep that even the eternal elements of nature have been modified. Earth, air and water are no longer miraculous repositories of the life described thousands of years ago in the book of Genesis. The desire to protect oneself from their threatening and dark turbulence was progressively transformed by the scientific thinking and technological development in an obsession of domination, solely devoted to exploitation and profit. In a self-destructive cycle, no care is dedicated to the fact that the enrichment of humans corresponds to a proportional impoverishment of their world. Today the risk of a catastrophe is real, tangible every day, and plagues are followed by the exodus. Our times are troubled by the largest migration in history. Maybe the time has come to ask whether it is not possible to find the way to a new Eden only thanks to the wondrous eyes of artists, of those who try to express the quality of nature without weighing their mere quantity. The way to a garden where imagination replaces calculation, the beautiful replaces the useful and the good replaces the plenty. The Third Day is the story through images of this mental journey that goes from the Creation to the Eden through the vicissitudes of the exodus on an exhausted planet. A story told through analogies and not logic, visions and not concepts, amazement and not speculation. A journey where art is proposed as the main path that the spirit takes to cross nature and enter its precious mystery.

Didi Bozzini
Curator of The Third Day exhibition

PARMA, 20.04.18 / 01.07.18
Palazzo del Governatore, Piazza Garibaldi 19

THE THIRD DAY

The exhibition aims at offering the city a new and unexpected insight on the topic of sustainability. A scientific environmentalist denunciation is replaced by an evocative and poetic narration. It takes visitors through a cathartic journey that begins with the Third Day of Genesis, the birth of nature and plant species, Genesis 1.3, that goes through creation, destruction, overcoming, nihilism, as far as a return to nature with a palingenesian pattern that follows sensations.

The exhibition itinerary is made up of photos, installations, works realized on site and paintings, involving internationally famous artists that range from Arte Povera to fine art photography, from performance art to sound installations. Marina Abramovic, Mario Merz, Gilberto Zorio, Gabriele Basilico, Sebastiao Salgado, Mario Giacomelli, Gavin Turk, John Isaacs are just some of the many names that will guide visitors during the narration designed by curator Didi Bozzini .

THE URGENCY OF SUSTAINABILITY

According to the theory of Planetary Boundaries developed by Johan Rockstrom and as published by Nature in a contribution given by the 29 leading scientists of the Earth Science System, the planet’s resilience capacity has 9 thresholds and if these are passed the possibility of unexpected and irreversible changes would pose a risk for the survival of humanity.

Today 4 out of the 9 boundaries have already been crossed. It is therefore necessary and urgent to rethink some paradigms that, since the Industrial Revolution, have influenced the way in which humanity imagines itself and its future on Earth: the time of sustainable development must start today.

However, in September 2015, the governments of 193 UN member countries adopted Agenda 2030, a join plan for Sustainable Development to be achieved within 15 years, through 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Compared to the previous programme, Agenda 2030 calls for action and collaboration between all the players, thus not only the governments, but also civil society and businesses.

This exhibition reflects, through the work of artists of different background and generations, on the impacts suffered by the planet and the people who live on it, so that this awareness can generate a virtuous circle of hope and commitment.