On Saturday 19 March at 5 pm, Studio Cenacchi, Via Santo Stefano 63, Bologna, opens Places of Longing, a solo exhibition featuring 28 works by Swiss artist Marianne Schmid.

Schmid firmly believes that art can play a social role. Throughout her practice, she has created projects that actively involve the public in making the work, turning participants into co-authors who share responsibility for the final piece. Places of Longing follows #iorestoacasa (2020), a project based on photographs of what people could see from their windows during the first lockdown.

On 8 November 2020, after a summer of relative freedom, people in Italy once again found themselves confined to their homes. Places of Longing began at that moment. Schmid returned to her social media contacts with a simple question: “Where would you rather be right now?”

This time, she was asking for more than a record of what people could see. She invited them to imagine somewhere else and to look inwards. Each person responded in their own way: recalling a place that held particular meaning, thinking back to the summer just gone, dreaming of a holiday repeatedly postponed, or simply wishing to be with someone they could no longer see.

Twenty-eight people took part, each sending Schmid a photograph. Drawing on the emotions and associations contained in these images, she created a series of layered works. Each photograph is printed on paper, then partially concealed by a second, black-and-white version printed on a transparent sheet and mounted on acetate. Openings in the upper layer reveal fragments of the image beneath, drawing viewers closer to peer into the miniature worlds Schmid has created. With each encounter, a sense of longing for those places and people emerges, establishing an intimate connection between artist, participant and viewer.

The exhibition leads towards a final work unlike the others. Framed to resemble an open book, it depicts a sailing boat on the Nile.

Places of Longing ends on this image, offering a twofold gesture of hope: an invitation to open ourselves to others once again, and to dream of new journeys, encounters and destinations.

Marianne Schmid
Luoghi di nostalgia
Curated by Jacopo Cenacchi

19 March > 23 April 2022

GALLERIA STUDIO CENACCHI
Via Santo Stefano 63
40125 Bologna

OPENING HOURS
Tuesday–Saturday: 4.30–7.30 pm
Monday: by appointment
Sunday: closed