ICASTICA 2015 "Cultivating Culture"

In Arezzo, from 27 June to 27 September, the works of over a hundred of the most important and interesting contemporary artists on the world scene will be installed in almost forty indoor and outdoor spaces of the city. Taken out of the museums, contemporary art will mix with masterpieces by Cimabue, Piero della Francesca and Giorgio Vasari, and Arezzo will be able to experience art directly.

With ICASTICA 2015 the region of Arezzo is opening up to art, performance and debate on the need to cultivate culture, following in the footsteps of the guiding theme of the Milan Expo, under whose aegis the programme is being staged. Thus the title Cultivating Culture will reflect ICASTICA 2015’s conception of culture as a set of decisive criteria and consolidated practices. The themes of food, taste and sustainability are approached from a variety of perspectives and according to a range of different areas of expertise, with the aim of fostering a desire for knowledge that, when it is present, moves the world and spreads understanding in the process. Culture becomes a conscious choice to head towards the adoption of a system, a united collective solution to the problems faced by society.

"Art, as a dimension of experience, and thus of history, is called on here to convey, interpret and symbolize culture: the primary basis of living, which is first shaped by it and then shapes it," declares Fabio Migliorati, director of the festival. "ICASTICA is looking at creative languages over time—from the material of art to the document, from the account to the experience. It will be made up of two sections, art + events and projects, with a stringent Advisory Board that will also decide on the prizes to be awarded to the competing artists."

ICASTICA 2015 is organized by the municipality of Arezzo, with the collaboration and the support of regional bodies, partners and sponsors.

Artists: Cimabue, Piero della Francesca, Giorgio Vasari, Benedetto da Maiano, Pietro Lorenzetti, Abake, Adel Abdessemed, Carla Accardi, Etel Adnan, Mario Airò, Carl Andre, Giorgio Andreotta Calò, Giovanni Anselmo, Salvatore Arancio, Francesco Arena, Stuart Arends, Stefano Arienti, Charles Avery, Massimo Barzagli, James Beckett, Nina Beier, Neil Beloufa, David Bernstein, Joseph Beuys, Andrea Bianconi, Vanessa Billy, Karina Bisch, Lupo Borgonovo, Alessandro Brighetti, Christian Burnoski, Sophie Calle, Sheba Chhachhi, Isabelle Cornaro, Valentino Carrai-Luca Mauceri-Carlo Trucchi, Vittorio Corsini, Giulio De Mitri, Rolando Deval, Aron Demetz, Gabriele De Santis, Gintaras Didziapetris, Mark Dion, Sean Edwards, Tim Ellis, Haris Epaminonda, Franklin Evans, Lara Favaretto, Christian Flamm, Claire Fontaine, Tim Foxon, Simon Fujiwara, Ryan Gander, Mario Garcia Torres, Alberto Garutti, Lydia Gifford, Félix González-Torres, Paolo Grassino, May Hands, Nicholas Hatfull, Mona Hatoum, Judith Hopf, Anna Hughes, Paolo Icaro, Anish Kapoor, Joseph Kosuth, Hannah Lees, George Henry Longly, Francesco Lo Savio, Christiane Löhr, Allan McCollum, Jonathan Monk, Moataz Nasr, Ernesto Neto, Alek O, Ruairiadh O’Connell, Joe Orr, Hans Op de Beeck, Adrian Paci, Gulio Paolini, Jorge Peris, Dominique Petitgand, Alfredo Pirri, Fabrizio Plessi, Gerhard Richter, Davide Rivalta, Bernardi Roig, Pietro Ruffo, Shigeru Saito, Nicola Samorì, Tomas Saraceno, Maurizio Savini, Markus Schinwald, Pinuccio Sciola, Samara Scott, Tino Sehgal, Ettore Spalletti, Sten & Lex, Jessica Stockholder, Danae Stratou, Santo Tolone, Luca Trevisani, Richard Tuttle, Francesco Vezzoli, Ai Weiwei, Bedwyr Williams, Jesse Wine, Erwin Wurm.

Art Director: Fabio Migliorati

Curatorial projects
Adam Carr, Rita Selvaggio, Ilaria Gianni, Atto Belloli Ardessi, Ginevra Bria, 999 contemporary