In commemoration of the 2025 Giorno della Memoria—the International Holocaust Remembrance Day—observed every year on January 27, Magazzino Italian Art presents a lecture organized in collaboration with the Centro Primo Levi in New York and the Italian Consulate General, alongside other Italian institutions in the New York area.
Dr. Pieranna Cavalchini, Tom and Lisa Blumenthal Curator of Contemporary Art, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, will explore the work of Italian artist Fabio Mauri (1926-2009). In particular, Cavalchini will focus on Mauri's groundbreaking performance pieces from the 1970s, among which What is Fascism and Ebrea. These were among the first Italian contemporary artworks to confront the persecution of the Jews and the legacy of Nazi-Fascism, prompting the public to consider its own role as spectator and witness. The lecture will address Mauri’s enduring relevance in reflecting on collective memory, ideology, and the role of Italy in the Holocaust.
About the speaker
Since 2001, Pieranna Cavalchini has been the Tom and Lisa Blumenthal Curator of Contemporary Art at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, where she has organized over 34 exhibitions and overseen the Artists-in-Residence program, featuring over 75 artists worldwide. Notable participants include Stefano Arienti, Maurizio Cannavacciuolo, and Adam Pendleton. For the museum’s centennial in 2003, she curated a special project with Joseph Kosuth. Currently, she is curating an exhibition of Haitian photographer and sculptor Fabiola Jean-Louis, opening in February 2025.
Before joining the Gardner Museum, Cavalchini served as Special Advisor to Incontri Internazionali d’Arte in Rome and coordinated Concerti di Mezzogiorno at the Festival of Two Worlds in Spoleto. She worked on notable projects like The Knot Arte Povera at P.S.1 and Playgrounds & Toys, a traveling exhibition for the UN’s 50th anniversary of its High Commission for Refugees. Her curatorial highlights include Lo sguardo e l’ascolto in Spoleto and Artisti Collezionisti in Siena.
About Centro Primo Levi
Centro Primo Levi is a New York based organization inspired by the humanistic legacy of writer andItaliana Zerilli Marimòo survived Auschwitz and became a fundamental reference in the discourse on history and memory in modern societies. CPL fosters education and debate on Primo Levi’s work and the history of Italian and Mediterranean Jews. Topics discussed in our public programs and academic seminars are disseminated through our online monthly Printed Matter and publishing endeavor, CPL Editions. The Center works closely with many organizations, including the New York Public Library, NYU Casa Italiana Zerilli Marimò, The New School, Columbia University, CUNY, and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, CENTRA Genova, and the Center for Contemporary Jewish Documentation in Milan.