Art and culture
Torino is a city that is accustomed to beauty: from the extraordinary Baroque and Belle Époque buildings to historical masterpieces like the “Autoritratto a Sanguigna" by Leonardo da Vinci which is conserved at the Royal Library, the royal residences which UNESCO has declared a “Patrimony of Humanity” (like the very central and recently renovated Palazzo Madama, or Venaria Reale, the Italian "Versailles") and the Egyptian Museum, the most important in the world after Cairo’s. But this rich heritage hasn’t hindered the city and its artists from looking forward, in constant pursuit of new expressive forms.
Today Torino is recognized as one of the major European capitals of Contemporary Art, thanks to a tightly-woven fabric of public and private initiatives; collections and foundations; museums and galleries; events and manifestations; and a history of experimentation and research that range from the exuberance of the Futurists to Felice Casorati, the International Situationists, Arte Povera, Food Art and the major contemporary artistic avant-garde movements.
The GAM, the Museum of Contemporary Art at the Castello di Rivoli and the Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo – which together organize T1 - Torino Triennale Tre Musei –, plus Palazzo Bricherasio, the Pinacoteca Agnelli, the newly-founded Fondazione Merz and the trade fair “Artissima - Internazionale d’Arte Contemporanea” are fundamental parts of the international circuit of new expressive forms.
Add to this a high number of galleries and important open air manifestations, like the magic of "Luci d'artista," which every year invades the city streets with luminous installations, or the works of public art that are changing the face of the city, like the first three works on the new thoroughfare over the Urban Railway Link (Mario Merz, Per Kirkeby and Giuseppe Penone), or the most recent ones: the columns by Arnaldo Pomodoro, that welcome people entering the city from the south, and the sculptures by Tony Cragg in front of the Stadio Olimpico.
Famous international directors are once again shooting their films in the shadow of the Mole Antonelliana, thanks in part to the hospitality, advice and services offered by the Film Commission Torino e Piemonte, one of the most active in Italy. And the phantasmagorical National Cinema Museum has found its home inside the Mole Antonelliana – the museum was designed by the Swiss architect François Confino and has recently been enhanced with new installations.
The Torino Film Festival is one of the most interesting in Europe, and it’s only the most famous of the many cinematographic kermises that take place in town. Book lovers will find authors, editors, schools specialized in literary subject matters (like the Scuola Holden), the prestigious publishing house Einaudi and world-famous events like the International Book Fair, all of which helped award Torino the designation as the 2006/2007 World Capital of Books, with Rome.
The Teatro Regio – the temple of opera -, the Auditorium Giovanni Agnelli at the Lingotto and the RAI Auditorium host seasons that are top-class in the panorama of international music. The City of Torino, along with the Teatro Regio, the RAI National Symphony Orchestra, the Associazione Lingotto Musica, the Unione Musicale and the Giuseppe Verdi Conservatory have founded Sistema Musica, which promotes the knowledge and enjoyment of the musical art form by supporting the production and distribution of concerts. The Philharmonic Orchestra of Torino, the Associazione Stefano Tempia and the musical festival MITO Settembre Musica satisfy lovers of classical music, while dozens of summer festivals satisfy those of extra-cultured music. For decades now Torino has been one of Italy’s most prolific cities on the national pop-rock scene.
The Teatro Stabile and many important theatrical companies are dedicated to people who love prose.
And when culture tout court meets the culture of know-how, the result is the long list of designers who have made Torino famous throughout the world: Pininfarina, Bertone, Giugiaro, "Studio 65." This is one of the reasons Torino was named the first World Design Capital, promoted by the International Council of Societies of Industrial Design. For the entire year of 2008, the city will host a full lineup of events involving major international designers. Only Torino, the home of Fiat, could be the home of the Automobile Museum; it will reopen in the summer of 2008, embellished by a renovation project designed by François Confino. But all these excellences wouldn’t exist without the support of private institutions in Piemonte that have always believed in knowledge – with the foundations Compagnia di San Paolo and CRT in the forefront – and if on the streets, in private clubs, in public locales - people didn’t breathe an air of ferment that is the true, indispensable driving force of culture.
Discover the amazing beauty of Torino and the Piemonte region practically and economically with the Torino+Piemonte Card.
And to conclude the celebrations for the 150th anniversary of the Unification of Italy, in Torino and in the Piemonte region, a grand international event, as there was for the 50th anniversary in 1911 and the centenary in 1961.
Analysis, reflection and debate on Italy and the Italians will form the basis for the events programme, from 17 March to 31 October 2011, and will include an extensive backdrop for panoramas, people and projects.
