The first museum devoted to contemporary art in Italy, Castello di Rivoli is a beacon for the art world. Since it opened in 1984, it has continuously presented innovative exhibitions and radical art performances, while remaining sensitive to the unique Baroque castle that hosts it. Designed in 1718 by Filippo Juvarra, the castle is a constant source of inspiration for artists. Its architecture and history inspire the creation of new works conceived specifically for the Museum’s Permanent Collection. The mission of the Castello di Rivoli Museo d’Arte Contemporanea is to engage local and international audiences in a deeper understanding of our present times through art and culture, while contributing to the social development of its surrounding region. In addition to collecting and exhibiting artworks, the Museum is a hub for creativity, research and learning, primarily in the field of contemporary art, by reflecting on the present through a dynamic relationship with the past.

Curator, researcher and scholar Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev (1957, Ridgewood, New Jersey) is director of Castello di Rivoli Museo d’Arte Contemporanea and of Fondazione Francesco Federico Cerruti. She holds a visiting professorship at Northwestern University (2013 – 2019), and has taught at the University of Leeds, at the Goethe Universität Frankfurt Am Main and at Harvard University. Christov Bakargiev was born in the United States from a Bulgarian father and an Italian mother and she returned to Italy to conduct her studies in Literature and Philosophy at the universities of Genoa and Pisa. She began her career in the arts writing reviews for the magazine Reporter and for the newspaper IlSole24Ore. Friendships with artists in Italy and internationally, including William Kentridge, Alighiero Boetti, Pierre Huyghe, Francis Alÿs, Mario and Marisa Merz, and Jannis Kounellis, propelled her curatorial work. Following a period at Villa Medici where she curated summer exhibitions (1998-2000), she served as Chief Curator at P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center affiliated to MoMA in New York. Amongst many other projects, at PS1 she organized the ground-breaking survey of Janet Cardiff’s work. In 2002, she returned to Turin to work at Castello di Rivoli upon invitation of its former director Ida Gianelli. In 2008 she curated the Sydney Biennial, followed by dOCUMENTA(13) in 2012, and the 14th Istanbul Biennial in 2015. The following year she returned to Turin where, until 2017, she directed both GAM Galleria Civica d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea and Castello di Rivoli Museo d’Arte Contemporanea. Amongst her major publications is the monograph Arte Povera (London, Phaidon Press, 1999).

In English.
Free entry.