Catalogue dedicated to African sculpture in Italian private collections.
Year: 2004
Texts: V. Carini
Prefaces: A. Tagliaferri, L. Vigorelli
Format: 24 × 31 cm
Pages: 344, 237 colour images
Language: Italian / English
A Hidden Heritage – African Sculptures in Italian Private Collections
African art and the Italian context
African art in Italy has long existed in a condition of marginality. Collectors and scholars have often had to operate within a cultural environment marked by distance, misunderstanding and limited engagement.
This situation reflects the weight of classical and Renaissance traditions, as well as a broader difficulty in adopting a more plural and decentralized view of culture.
Only a minority recognised the impact of African sculpture on modern art, understanding its role in shaping new visual languages.
This catalogue documents for the first time African sculptures preserved in Italian collections, revealing an important yet largely unknown heritage.
A Hidden Heritage stands as both a scholarly and cultural project, contributing to the recognition of African art within the Italian context.
Related publications
Origins
Classical Africa
African Aesthetics
Entre Grâce et Brutalité
