MAXXI Exhibition Presents Living Archive of segno Magazine Spanning 50 Years of Contemporary Art

An exhibition at the MAXXI museum in Rome presents the archive of the magazine segno, titled 'L’archivio della rivista segno. Attualità Internazionali d’Arte Contemporanea, 1976–2026.' The show is installed in the Carlo Scarpa foyer and serves as both a critical device and a tribute to the memory of Lucia Spadano. Curated by Paolo Balmas, the exhibition adopts a precise, almost philological approach, focusing on documentary density rather than spectacle. The spatial design by architect Letizia Germani employs a minimalist strategy with clean surfaces and orderly arrangements to ensure clarity without imposing rigid hierarchies. Organizational efforts are led by Giulia Pedace, head of the MAXXI Arte Archives Center, and Giulia Cappelletti, who present the layered archival material while preserving its complexities. The archive is presented not as a static repository but as a living network of relationships, correspondences, and cultural geographies spanning five decades of contemporary art. Editorial materials and traces of militant publishing practices construct a narrative that functions as both memory and critical tool. Roberto Sala oversaw the entire acquisition process, facilitating the transfer and enhancement of the archive within the museum in constant dialogue with the MAXXI team. The exhibition integrates a digital archive accessible via two touchscreens, allowing visitors to browse all issues from 1976 onward, shifting the archive from a contemplative to an operational dimension. A bilingual Italian/English catalog published by Cimorelli editore as part of the MAXXI Arte Collection Focus Series extends the exhibition critically, featuring texts by Balmas, Pedace, and Cappelletti that cover historical reconstruction, archival work, and mapping of locations documented by segno. It also includes an unpublished interview with Umberto Sala, offering a testimonial perspective on the original editorial project shared with Spadana. The exhibition questions what it means to create an archive today, positioning the segno archive as a catalyst for new research perspectives rather than a conclusion.