NOTIONS OF A NATION: AN EXHIBITION AT SPUMA
On May 31, the exhibition Motion of a Nation opens, featuring artists from diverse backgrounds and nationalities who, through their works, reflect on the ills, distortions, and interpretations of a symbol that, while functioning as an element of recognition, can also represent emptiness, borders, and limitations to freedom.
The exhibition offers a journey through a wide range of images and techniques —from photography to video, from painting to drawing— as well as an introspective path that invites reflection on the sense of belonging, the notion of nationhood, and the borders that so often generate conflict and division.
Motion of a Nation documents a singular journey not only through one of the symbols of iconographic tradition but also through the nation and the very idea of nationhood —which can signify belonging, but also meaningless rags. A symbol of recognition that at times also signifies vacuity. Nations, as such, may become a limit to freedom, an imposition, a prison, a boundary, a justification, a pretext for generating political and economic conflicts and endless wars.
As curator Antonio Arévalo states, "Motion of a Nation is not presented as a simple archive of images, but as a bold and ironic journey through the contemporary art scene, where art becomes a tool of resistance and cultural proposition."
The exhibition, which brings together 31 artists and one collective, seeks to offer a key to reimagining a primordial space of creative freedom, where new visions can emerge and challenge established conventions. It is a unique opportunity to explore how symbols and nations can also function as tools of social critique, memory, and artistic experimentation.
Participating artists: Paolo Angelosanto, Alexander Apostol, Filippo Berta, Maurizio Bertinetti, Primož Bizjak, Jota Castro, Donna Conlon, Santolo De Luca, Davide Dormino, Zehra Doğan, Ines Fontenla, Regina José Galindo, Diango Hernández, Paulina Humeres, Antonio Manuel, Ramuntcho Matta, Ronald Moran, Carlos Motta, Iván Navarro, Lucy+Jorge Orta, Adrian Paci, Daniela Papadia, Sergio Racanati, Gaston Ramirez Feltrin, Filippo Riniolo, Anton Roca, Silvano Rubino, Stefano Scheda, Santiago Sierra, Paolo Toffolutti, Alejandro Vidal, and the Escuela Moderna / Ateneo Libertario Collective.
The exhibition will be open to the public from May 31 to July 31 at SPUMA – Space for the Arts, Fondamenta San Biagio 800R, Giudecca, Venice (Italy).
