Futurism in Progress Symposium
20 February 2024, 9.30 - 19.00
Estorick Collection of Modern Italian Art
Organised to mark the 115th anniversary of F. T. Marinetti’s iconoclastic movement, this symposium explores Futurist notions of progress through a series of fascinating papers by established academics and early career researchers.
In attempting to situate Italian art at the forefront of the European avant-garde, Marinetti’s Futurist movement placed radical progress in art and life at the very heart of its agenda. Railing against cultural tradition and proclaiming the need to rethink prevailing socio-political conventions, Futurism quickly developed into an international phenomenon, attracting adherents who issued manifestos addressing almost every sphere of human activity.
Yet how closely do Futurist ideas about modernity dovetail with our own? Which aspects of the movement’s theories have proved to be most prescient, and which less so? Is humanity still being ‘multiplied’ by the machine, or is it starting to be overshadowed by its own technological innovations? Might Futurism still serve as an example for young artists and thinkers or is it now fatally outmoded – and too ideologically compromised?
The keynote address will be given by Futurist scholar Guido Andrea Pautasso, who will examine the movement’s frequently surprising attitudes to the natural world and ecological matters.
Ticket includes drinks reception and a brief introduction to the Estorick’s collection of Futurist masterpieces by the museum’s Director, Roberta Cremoncini, and Assistant Curator, Christopher Adams.
£40 Standard / £30 Estorick Collection Members and Students
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Programme
09.30 – 09.45
Registration
09.45 – 10.00
Welcome: Roberta Cremoncini and Christopher Adams
10.00 – 10.50
Keynote address
The Green Soul of Futurism
Guido Andrea Pautasso
Independent scholar and author of Naturismo futurista. Ritorniamo alla terra! L’anima verde di Marinetti e dei futuristi
11.00 – 11.20
Aerial Landscapes in the Futurist Imaginary
Lara Pucci
Assistant Professor of History of Art, University of Nottingham
11.30 – 11.50
Naturale artificiale: A New Futurist Universe of Colours, Lights and Sounds in the Roman Art Scene of the 1960s
Giulia Cappelletti
Art historian, MAXXI – Museo Nazionale delle Arti del XXI Secolo, Rome
12.00 – 13.30
Lunch break
13.30 – 13.50
Futurism, Perception of Antiquity and Innovation During the Centenaries of Leonardo, Raphael and Dante (1919-1921)
Guicciardo Sassoli de’ Bianchi Strozzi
Art historian, exhibition organiser and curator
14.00 – 14.20
Exploring the Connections Between Italian Futurism and VR Design
Chiara Cola
Fellow of Advance HE, Foundation Design Studio Lead and Senior Lecturer in Interior Design
School of Art, Architecture and Design, London Metropolitan University
Digital artist and creative director
14.30 – 15.00
Refreshments
15.00 – 15.20
Benedetta Cappa Marinetti’s Distinctive Interpretation of Futurism
Cathy Margaillan
Professeure agrégée in Italian, Université Côte d’Azur
15.30 – 15.50
‘A Flabbergast World Where Everything Seemed to be Worked by a Piston’: Mina Loy’s Feminist Response to Futurism
Diane Drouin
Sorbonne Université, Paris
16.00 – 16.20
A Transhistorical Feminist Perspective on Posthuman Assemblage
Jennifer Griffiths
Lecturer, Umbra Institute, Perugia
16.30 – 17.00
Discussion and closing remarks
17.15 – 19.00
Drinks reception
with an introduction to the Futurist works in the Estorick Collection
Roberta Cremoncini and Christopher Adams