BLAST is a research project curated by Jessica Bianchera and Marta Ferretti, with the curatorial consultancy of Beatrice Benedetti and Nina Fiocco and the curatorial assistance of Giulia Costa, promoted by Urbs Picta in collaboration with a network of partners that includes AGIVERONA, ArtVerona, Asht*art Consultancy (communication partner), Careof, Cestim, Circolo del Cinema, Consorzio Sol.Co con WelfCare, Diplomart, Exibart (media partner), Filema, InHabitat, Interzona, Le Fate Onlus, LOOP Barcelona, Palazzo Poste Verona, Parallelo42 contemporary art, Recontemporary, Seven Gravity collection, SIZ Industrie grafiche (editorial partner), TBD Ultramagazine (editorial partner), Studio TM-TISS (press office) with the support of Fondazione Cariverona, the Municipality of Verona and the patronage of the Italian Ministry for cultural assets and activities and for tourism, the Province of Verona, the Municipality of Verona, the Academy of Fine Arts of Verona, Fondazione Italia Patria della Bellezza. The project aims at exploring on many fronts and with many participants the relationship between violence, documentation and public truth through the use of video. In particular, it focuses on the video medium as a tool for documenting, researching and reprocessing narrative by tackling the concept of violence as a moral, social and political category and as a relative dimension that is not made solely of gestures and explicit situations but also of subtle, masked actions. Taking into consideration some of today’s artistic trends that use methods and practices for research and for the production of images, data and information coming from transversal settings, such as forensic science, architecture, journalism and activism, BLAST intends to trigger shared thought about the many ways of perceiving, analysing and giving back episodes and dynamics of force, violence and power at an individual as well as a collective level and about their digital representation.

The peak of the project is an exhibition, organised on the occasion of the 16th edition of ArtVerona 2021, within the Video&TheCity program, to be held from October the 15th to the 19th (opening 15 October, 7 p.m.) in the spaces afforded by Palazzo Poste, the prestigious building designed by Ettore Fagiuoli in the 1920’s and once the headquarters of Poste Italiane, that will be opening to the city the Salone degli Sportelli hall after being sold to a private buyer and restored, thereby favouring the merger between ancient and contemporary and giving back to the city a highly important historic and architectural asset. The exhibition – organised with the precious help of Boccanera Gallery, Galleria Studio G7, Laveronica arte contemporanea, Mazzoleni, mor charpentier, Prometeo Gallery, Recontemporary, Rodriguez Gallery, Spazio Cordis – presents a selection of internationally famous artists together with young talents coming from various different cultural backgrounds, including Lida Abdul, Simona Andrioletti, Edgardo Aragón, Sofia Borelli, Elisa Caldana, Daniela Comani, Forensic Architecture, Regina José Galindo, Rodrigo Garrido, Debora Hirsch, Inhabitants, Michal Martychowiec, Rebecca Moccia, Giuliana Racco, belit sağ, Santiago Sierra, Diego Tonus, Chiara Ventura, Amir Yatziv, all of whom use video and moving images to analyse and evidence the various “categories” of violence in individual and collective contexts, often incorporating new technologies and digital circulation methods. In addition to the exhibition, the project, started in December 2020, also consists of various areas of intervention mainly aimed at confirming the importance of contemporary art languages such as analysis vectors, engagement and social and cultural growth: learning, a series of educational workshops and training activities intended for a public of young people, students, art sector professionals and the citizens of Verona who place contemporary art in dialogue with universal values and issues, local knowledge, people and territories; forum, a schedule of appointments that includes talks aimed at discussing and giving insight about the various approaches to the theme, a round table at which participants can debate the project’s themes and exchange different points of view, and projections of other works, films and documentaries; virtual, a virtual apparatus that, in addition to acting as the collector and magnifier of all of the activities, develops a dedicated program that can be used only online with previews, screenings and live events so as to allow a larger and geographically distant public to participate in and contribute to the project; alliances, specifically conceived to valorise the skills of the various partners and their contribution to the project. The publication edited by TBD ULTRAMAGAZINE, created together with Ashtart and SIZ Industria Grafica, will be presented on the occasion of the exhibition and within the context of ArtVerona to round off the research project.

BLAST is the second edition of a long-term project curated by Jessica Bianchera and Marta Ferretti, together with Giulia Costa, aimed at giving further depth to the imaginary worlds of the present via the video medium and moving images. The first edition, To Be Played. Video, immagine in movimento e videoinstallazione nella generazione Ottanta (2019) was created together with Giardino Giusti, ArtVerona, Careof and sponsored by the Italian Ministry for cultural assets and activites and for tourism, the Province of Verona, the Municipality of Verona and the Academy of Fine Arts of Verona. It was held at Giardino Giusti (Verona) and especially in the halls of Appartamento ‘900, opened once again and inaugurated with a new set-up precisely for the exhibition.