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IL SALOTTO DEGLI ARTISTI. Justin Randolph Thompson (Black History Month Florence) + Villa Romana

  • 21 Feb 2021
  • 11:30 AM - 12:30 PM
  • Online Event

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Conversation will be in English


Justin Randolph Thompson is a new media artist, cultural facilitator and educator born in Peekskill, NY in ’79. Based in Italy since 1999, Thompson is Co-Founder and Director of Black History Month Florence, a multi-faceted exploration of African and African Diasporic cultures in the context of Italy founded in 2016.

Thompson is a recipient of a 2020 Italian Council Research Fellowship, a Louis Comfort Tiffany Award, a Franklin Furnace Fund Award, a Visual Artist Grant from the Fundacion Marcelino Botin, two Foundation for Contemporary Arts Emergency Grants, a Jerome Fellowship from Franconia Sculpture Park and an Emerging Artist Fellowship from Socrates Sculpture Park. His work and performances have been exhibited widely in institutions including The Whitney Museum of American Art, the Centro de Arte Reina Sofia and The American Academy in Rome and are part of numerous collections including The Studio Museum in Harlem, and the Museo MADRE.

His life and work seek to deepen the discussions around socio-cultural stratification and hierarchical organization by employing fleeting temporary communities as monuments and fostering projects that connect academic discourse, social activism and DIY networking strategies in annual and biennial gathering, sharing and gestures of collectivity.

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Villa Romana is a place of contemporary artistic production and international exchange in Florence.

Every year Villa Romana has granted living and working space for the Fellows, and plug them into a network of international guest artists and with the local and national art scene. Founded in 1905 by artists and patrons of the arts to provide a platform for independent exchange, Villa Romana is currently run by a non-profit German association, supported by artistic cooperation and membership.

Villa Romana is a unique, dynamic and committed interface for artistic production and transcontinental dialogue between Germany, Italy and the entire Mediterranean region.

Competencies, cultural differences and personal biographies are networked in cooperation with the regional environment (museums, art academies, universities and partners in other disciplines). Villa Romana is a welcoming, interdisciplinary and communicative house and a creative hub where many international artists, curators, critics and visitors gather annually.



Part of

IL SALOTTO DEGLI ARTISTI


Florence, the capital of Tuscany, is home to many masterpieces of Renaissance art and architecture. Still today, it is a vibrant place where numerous artists translate traditional artistic techniques into new visual languages. Il Salotto degli Artisti provides access to a lesser known Florence: a peek into the most contemporary artistic spaces and into the life and studios of international artists based in Florence.

Every month we will meet a different artist working with the most diverse media and techniques, from multimedia installations to video projections, and artistic spaces that are the platforms for creative innovation to flourish.

The second series of Salotto Degli Artisti is presented in collaboration with the Rochester Art Center and curated by art historian Giulia Angeli, based in Florence, and Zoe Cinel, Curator at the Rochester Art Center.


Justin Randolph Thompson (Black History Month Florence)
+ Villa Romana // February 21, 2021

Zoya Shokoohi + La Portineria // March 21, 2021

David Hartono + Associazione Heyart// April 18, 2021


Giulia Angeli is an art historian living in Florence, Italy. After graduating in Early Modern Art at the University of Florence, she moved to Bologna where she earned an MA in Iconography of Renaissance Italian Painting from the University of Bologna. Her research is focused on Late Medieval and Renaissance Tuscany, a rich and fascinating field where beauty cannot be separated by craft techniques. She works at the Uffizi Gallery and Florence Municipal Museums and she is a licensed Tour Leader.


Originally from Florence, Italy, Zoe Cinel is a Curator at the Rochester Art Center, in Rochester MN, and an interdisciplinary artist. Her work has been screened/exhibited/performed nationally and internationally in venues such as the Minneapolis Institute of Art, the Walker Art Center, the Gibney Dance Choreographic Center (NYC), Festival della Creatività (Italy) among others. Zoe is a member of the artist collective CarryOn Homes, who advocate for bringing immigrants stories to the public through art and social engagement.




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