Committenze Contemporanee at The Galleria Borghese

The Galleria Borghese, one of Italy's most important classical art museums, has been hosting exhibitions by contemporary artists in its spaces for over a decade. Committenze Contemporanee is the title of the exhibition programme devised and curated by Anna Coliva. It was prompted by the desire to refresh the patronage of Cardinal Scipione Borghese (1577-1633), a connoisseur of beauty and luxury, creator and founder of the Galleria Borghese. From 2007 to 2019 the Galleria Borghese sought to create once again the conditions for it to carry on living through the works of artists of the current age: vedovamazzei, Giulio Paolini, Hans Op de Beeck, Nedko Solakov, Georg Baselitz, Candida Höfer, Mat Collishaw, Daniele Puppi and Zhang Enli were called upon to intervene with specific projects that renewed the vision of the space. The book presents the nine exhibitions in chronological order, with a wealth of images showing the works set up in the Uccelliera pavilion or in the Gallery's rooms. Each exhibition is introduced by the words of Anna Coliva, explored in depth by the guest curator and, in some cases, by a testimony from the artists themselves, and closes with photographic diptychs that narrate the relationship between the contemporary and the classic.