Alice Zannoni and Matteo Innocenti debate tradition vs. contemporaneity

Alice Zannoni, co-founder of Bologna's SetUp Contemporary art fair, and critic-curator Matteo Innocenti discuss the relationship between tradition and contemporaneity in art. Both agree on the complementarity of past and future, rejecting an either/or approach. Zannoni argues that tradition, handled with care, serves as a contemplative anchor rather than a burden, and that the polysemic DNA of artworks allows for both universality and timeliness. Innocenti insists that understanding the past is necessary to interpret the present; artists who ignore tradition produce ephemeral work. They cite examples: Ai Weiwei's smashing of a Han urn asserts tradition by opposition, while his later 'Reframe' at Palazzo Strozzi is seen as superficial; Marina Abramović's MoMA performance recalls a Greek kore; Stefano Arienti's plasticine water lilies channel Impressionist light; Richard Moss's 'The Enclave' combines conceptual conversion of infrared film with cinematic history; Satoshi Hirose evokes Eastern philosophy through simplicity. Zannoni highlights Marco Evaristti's 'Helena' for confronting viewers with moral choice via a click, and Arcangelo Sassolino's work as a metaphor for tension and universal laws. On the current state of the world, Innocenti notes that action outpaces reflection, with the artist as antidote; Zannoni stresses there is no ideal model, citing Abramović's silent provocation.