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COURTESY OF CASTELLO DI RIVOLI MUSEO D’ARTE CONTEMPORANEA Carolyn Bakargiev Feb 2016.qxp_Layout 1 4/4/16 6:18 PM Page 193

The Castello di Rivoli’s gallery dedicated to Italian artist , featuring (from left to right) Tutto (Everything), 1987–88; Scala (Ladder), 1966; and Zig-Zag, 1966.

THE GREAT After successes at Documenta and Istanbul, Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev CONNECTOR works her magic on the museums of Turin. BY CAROL KINO

culturedmag.com 193 Carolyn Bakargiev Feb 2016.qxp_Layout 1 4/4/16 6:19 PM Page 194

“I am very sensitive to what goes on in the world in terms of politics, society, research, philosophy.” —Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev

reinstalled the Castello’s permanent collection in and other disciplines, but also to build exhibitions Egypt’s , whose Cabaret Crusades film preparation for her new position, giving many of its that connect different historical periods,” she says. trilogy— which retells the story of the Crusades artists solo installations—a tactic designed to “I don’t focus only on the contemporary.” from an Arab perspective using marionettes—was show off the unique features of the building, a Her first show there, also opening in April, is a hit last year at New York’s MoMA PS1 and in Savoyard castle filled with 18th-century frescoes, “Organisms.” It will combine glass vases by the Istanbul, and Argentina’s Adrián Villar Rojas, stuccowork and marquetry, as much as the artwork. French Art Nouveau artist Emile Gallé, Pierre whose of animals clambering from the “Each room is like a universe,” she says. Inside Huyghe aquariums and walls of living plants sea were showstoppers at Istanbul. In November, these worlds, she has installed major works by the designed by the French botanist Patrick Blanc. “My Christov-Bakargiev will mount Shawky’s artists the region is known for, including hypothesis is that we are living in a period which is retrospective at the Castello, and when we spoke, , Alighiero Boetti and Michelangelo a little bit similar to Art Nouveau in our critique of she was installing Villar Rojas’ hippo Pistoletto. Her major spring show, which opened the Anthropocene,” she says. In the future, Christov- there, too. Both artists speak glowingly about the April 5, will present new work by , Bakargiev hopes that some of the artists she has experience of working with her. whose studio is nearby. worked with over the years, like William Kentridge, Although Shawky had previously shown the “We have the most important collection of may curate shows themselves. first Cabaret Crusades film at international venues, Arte Povera in the world,” says Christov-Bakargiev, “She’s capable and passionate, she has a big “what made it really popular was Documenta,” he “and I wanted to land here with a great homage. I imagination and she chooses artists whom she says. “Carolyn did it the way I wanted,” by think that’s what people coming from abroad really really cares about,” says Marian Goodman, the presenting it as an installation. Working together, want to see.” dealer who represents Kentridge. “And that’s they hammered out every detail, and it was the She has also installed other iconic works always a good combination.” same way in Istanbul, he added, where she found associated with the museum, like Olafur Eliasson’s “Maybe the reason I like to work with her is a hamam to present the complete trilogy. The Sun Has No Money (2008), which transforms that it is the idea itself that determines the project,” As for Villar Rojas, Christov-Bakargiev a room with a vaulted brick ceiling into a says Lawrence Weiner, another artist who has “absolutely modified my perspective about my planetarium, and Maurizio Cattelan’s 1997 collaborated with her for decades. “This thing about practice and my whole understanding of my art,” Novecento, a taxidermied hanging horse. curators not listening to what artists say and he says. “Every time I’m with her, I feel like I’m Christov-Bakargiev also has big plans for GAM, placing them within a category—Carolyn breaks back at university, just a student taking notes.” whose collection goes back to the 18th century, that. And she did from the very first moment.” The secret of her success, Villar Rojas adds, is with work by Futurists like Giacomo Balla and the Through group exhibitions like Documenta, that “she’s a never-ending hyper-connectivity Italian social realist Giuseppe Pellizza da Volpedo. Christov-Bakargiev also brought many younger machine. She can connect and create relations “I feel it’s important to build alliances to other fields artists to the world’s attention. They include with anything.”

194 culturedmag.com Carolyn Bakargiev Feb 2016.qxp_Layout 1 4/4/16 6:19 PM Page 195 CONTEMPORANEA D’ARTE MUSEO RIVOLI DI CASTELLO OF COURTESY IMAGE

Christov-Bakargiev reinstalled Castello di Rivoli’s permanent collection, giving solo room placements to many of the artists, including Daniel Buren’s Exploded Cabin #3. culturedmag.com 195