Rosemont Art Advisory is honoured to have interviewed Stefania Angelini, leading member of the Monaco Committee for the International Association of Plastic Arts (Comité pour l'Association International des Arts Plastiques).
Please share with our readers how did you start your journey in art and for the artists.
I started with a bachelor in Psychology, followed with a second bachelor in Art History and Contemporary Market in Paris and ended up in London for my master degree, a partnership between the Whitechapel gallery and Warwick University, in History and Business of the Contemporary Art Market. I started working as an intern very early and explored different approaches to art. Journalism, auction houses, art galleries and worked along side a collector, Heiner Bastian and his impressive collection. In 2011 I started an art space in Berlin, Atelier-ksr, which eventually became a gallery with an experimental format. Art fairs were thought as art projects, artists residency were organised in the space once a year and independent curators were invited twice annually, I did some editions (book, vinyl) and curated my own shows. It was a very fun way to run a gallery. My apartment was on the first floor, the gallery ground floor and artists residencies were in the over ground basement - which later became a music studio. It was this very natural, un-fancy way of looking at and working with art. Far from Paris’ galleries in the 2000’s which I knew back then. A feeling that developed from 2012 and on in the capital.
You are a leading member of the Monaco Committee for l’AIAP (International Association of Plastic Arts). Please tell us more about the l'AIAP and it’s mission.
The AIAP - Association Internationale des Artistes Plasticiens, is an association created in 1955, funded by the government and supported by the DAC - Direction des Affaires Culturelles de Monaco ( Department of Cultural Affairs of Monaco), in partnership with the UNESCO and under the patronage of S.A.S Albert II. It’s president, Marie-Aimée Tirole and all the committee, are working intensively, all year long, to promote local art and artists through national and international exhibitions, collaborating with other associations constantly. Some weeks ago, one of the pillar of the association passed away, a great loss for the AIAP. Marie-Laure Pastorelli honoured the association with a very consistent amount of work, acting as the secretary of the committee for the past 20 years. As a benevolent work, It requires huge devotion, often not rewarded or not considered enough.
You share your life between Berlin and Monaco and your embody the role of an independent curator as well as a business woman in Monaco. What is your main challenge in the current context ?
I was already an entrepreneur back in Berlin, but in a very soft way, as it was a small enterprise. Two years ago, I had the opportunity to develop a restaurant here in Monaco, quite a concept, with a gourmet grocery open 7 days a week all day long. I love this case, it also meant managing a whole team, as much as doing market research, dealing with suppliers or understanding a financial statement. Quite exciting, very interesting but also immensely demanding. I am that kind of person who loves doing tons of things, so it gets quite frustrating when you happen to have no time left for yourself. First year was exhausting, but second one gave me some relief to start thinking and developing art projects again. It’s a total different world, different vocabulary, different game. I like playing all.
Regarding actual context, we were very lucky and were able to continue working. It required many adjustments, innovations. I have to remain constantly alerted, careful and at the same time keeping my team motivated. This is challenging but also very rewarding. I hope we will continue this way and provide the best out of this situation.
You have recently curated and opened a fantastic exhibition in Monaco: “ La Force du detail”, during the difficult context of the pandemic where the majority of museums and galleries remain closed world wide. Monaco has given a very strong and sovereign message to the art world that Culture is not dead. Please tell us more about the exhibition and it’s main message.
Yes. How great this is. It’s quite unreal. We are all so grateful to the Prince and the government for taking such out standing, courageous, powerful decisions. I really believe the current situation gives Monaco this kind of ‘feeric’ feeling it used to have, as a kind of mythical place. But all this magic is happening because everybody is concsious of their responsibility and rules are kept quite tight.
The reception of the show by the public has been so intense because they hadn’t had the chance to meet or talk about art since such a while… The group exhibition I curated was an independent part of the Salon Annuel du Comité de l’AIAP, at the Salle d’Exposition du Quai Antoine 1er, offered to the AIAP by the DAC. Because of the sanitary restrictions, the AIAP gave me the opportunity to develop the project with artists living and working in Monaco and surroundings. Since the AIAP is an association, I put the emphasis in selecting artists that were accompanied all year long by associations (Circa, Mon Artiste et Moi). I also tried to map up the important institutions we have here in Monaco and Nice (Pavillon Bosio, Villa Arson, La Station). The thematic, ‘La Force du Détail’ had been given by the committee and somehow matched entirely with my curatorial approach. I am very much interested in what lies ‘in-between’, the sentient kind of perceptions, this idea of ‘rift’. I am very moved by the power of the unseen which kind of translate into works of art that suggest more than clearly represent. I therefore developed the subject of the detail within the one of the trace, the imprint, the memory.
How do you perceive Monaco as the place for the arts and destination for cultural economy?
I can only speak for the contemporary market. Since the opening of the NMNM - Nouveau Musée National de Monaco, everything changed literally. We had the chance to have a passionate director for the last decade, Mme Marie-Claude Beaud, who’s just ended her position recently. That woman really gave me - without even knowing her! - hope and faith again. I couldn’t envision my role here in Monaco, just because the contemporary art scene was too dry. Marie-Claude Beaud arrived with an ambitious programm, which really took account of what was going on in the contemporary art world and she positioned the NMNM on the international map directly by exhibiting young, exciting artists. Quite a statement here in Monaco, which mainly relies on established brands and names. The gallery Columbia 11, at the corner of the villa Sauber, also had her merit. It brought up some amazing shows and collaborations with international galleries, building up a qualitative network around Monaco. When the art fair Art Monte-Carlo opened its first edition, everything made sense. Today, galleries like NM Contemporary or the curator-duo Furiosa are doing an amazing job bringing international artists and putting up beautiful and unexpected shows. We are just missing more of these kind of initiatives.
Who is your favorite artist and if you could have the opportunity to curate a museum exhibition where would it be?
Not sure I want to answer to this question, do I really need to? I am not a fan of ‘favorite’ things…
Can art and culture survive in the digital format?
Definitely! I am a book, vinyl, object lover. I like to smell the paper of the magazines (my dad had a printing company) I am fascinated by technics, savoir-faire, but also the diversity of materials, might they be synthetic or naturals.
Therefore I believe art and culture need to survive out of the digital format. However, new technologies are such an infinite source of inspiration, I believe art won’t have to ’survive’, it will just morph, translate, transform, transmit into a digital format. I remember amazing online shows, or online formats like New Scenario or the TV show Conglomerate. I’ve been quite disappointed to see how poorly art fairs or even galleries invested into this medium during the pandemic. It was and still is the perfect time to develop any kind of real digital project in that sense. Some did. Museums - we talked a lot about British Museum or the Smithsonian Natural Museum and their google views, or' David Zwirner online viewing rooms which is probably among the first which is a kind aof extension of the shows adding some interesting material aside the artworks (videos, texts) but keep the experience quite visual. I would like to mention some of the innovations in this field of two very promising young gallerists: Double V in Marseille went for 3D online shows - quite classic but effective. Finally, Nicoletti Contemporary from London, is exploring and pushing the digital format as a real medium to develop his shows online. Just very exciting!
What is your dream?
Not good at these kind of questions neither… I prefer keeping my dreams secret !
Stefania Angelini obtained a Bachelor in Expertise and Business of Art (IESA, FR).
In 2012, she obtained her Master in History and Business of the Contemporary Market (Warwick University, UK).
Following her studies she trained alongside art collector Heiner Bastian (Berlin, DE). She then founded and directed L’Atelier-ksr (Berlin, DE), an art space dedicated to experimental art forms. From 2011 to 2013, Stefania Angelini co-curated the project Kunst(shot) (Berlin, DE) with artist Clémence de La Tour du Pin, working intensively with uncommon spaces. Since 2016, Angelini is part of the jury of the National Monegasque Committee of the International Association of Fine Arts (A.I.A.P) with the U.N.E.S.C.O and member of the Jeune Chambre Economique (JCE) of Monaco.
Her current research is turned towards new technologies and deep ecology, intending to grasp our contemporary condition by constantly questioning how to address the present future. Her curatorial interventions use poetics and activism, drawing inspiration from different areas of research - anthropological and philosophical, along with the continual influence of science. Her narratives draw attention to materials and environments, architectures and bodies, living and non-living entities; putting the emphasis on processes out of our control and the obscure mechanisms which we are part of.