Reading Room
The reading room is a space created for the public and the residents of Fondazione Pistoletto, in Biella, Italy.
The reading room is a space created for the public and the residents. Designed by the architect and artist Mattia Paco Rizzi, using autochthonous materials like wood, glass and stone together with materials collected from the industrial waste of Cittadellarte, the installation works as a membrane between the path of the exhibition and the workspaces of the residents. It’s multipurpose flexibility allows to pass through it, remain inside or stay close to it and engage in a collective conversation. The reading room collects two types of materials. One part of the selection contains books on theory, history and critique of education, radical pedagogy, the political use of performance and politics of affinities. Among the authors are: Chantal Mouffe, Bruno Latour, Jaques Derrida, Augusto Boal, Antonio Gramsci, Pascal Gielen and John Dewey.
Second part includes artist books and publications produced on occasion of experimental pedagogical programs around the world. Among the authors of the selection are: Priscila Fernandes, Emanuel Almborg, Arseniy Zhilyaev, Adelita Husni-Bey, Chto Delat’s School of Engaged Art, Beta Local’s Ivan Illych, Crater Invertido, Jonas Staal’s New World Academy, Kunci Cultural Studies Center, Sarai, Ahmet Ogut, Subtramas and the Copenhagen Free University.
[text by Silvia Franceschini]