ARTFEED — Contemporary Art Intelligence

Christian Caliandro on Matriarchal Spaces and Interesting Times

opinion-review · 2026-04-27

Christian Caliandro reflects on the Biennale di Venezia 2019 theme "May You Live in Interesting Times," questioning why contemporary art failed to predict the pandemic and its social consequences. He argues that art no longer anticipates the future, contrasting a masculine hierarchical thinking with a feminine horizontal, inclusive, and collaborative model. Caliandro traces the divergence of contemporary art from the present to the late 1960s and early 1970s. He cites Donna Haraway's concepts of co-thinking, co-sharing, and co-living, and includes a poem by Constantine Cavafy. The text references Aryan Ozmaei's "Reverie" (2020) and Silvia Argiolas' "Amatissima Maschera n. 15" (2020). Caliandro discusses trauma, loss, and the moral handicap of masculinity, quoting Layne Staley of Alice in Chains. The article is part of a series on matriarchal spaces published on Artribune.

Key facts

  • The article is titled 'Spazi matriarcali. Tempi interessanti' and published on Artribune.
  • Christian Caliandro is an art historian born in 1979, teaching at Accademia di Belle Arti di Firenze.
  • Caliandro references the Biennale di Venezia 2019 theme 'May You Live in Interesting Times'.
  • He questions why contemporary art did not foresee the pandemic, masks, social distancing, and lockdown.
  • Caliandro argues that a feminine conception (horizontal, anti-hierarchical, polycentric, inclusive, participatory, collaborative) is more adequate for the current moment.
  • The article cites Donna Haraway's 'con-pensare, con-dividere, con-vivere'.
  • A poem by Constantine Cavafy is included in the text.
  • Artworks by Aryan Ozmaei ('Reverie', 2020) and Silvia Argiolas ('Amatissima Maschera n. 15', 2020) are mentioned.
  • Caliandro discusses trauma of loss, specifically the death of a mother, and quotes Layne Staley of Alice in Chains.
  • The article is part of a series on matriarchal spaces on Artribune.

Entities

Artists

  • Christian Caliandro
  • Aryan Ozmaei
  • Silvia Argiolas
  • Constantine Cavafy
  • Layne Staley

Institutions

  • Accademia di Belle Arti di Firenze
  • Biennale di Venezia
  • Artribune
  • Symbola Fondazione per le Qualità italiane
  • Alice in Chains
  • Metal Hammer
  • Einaudi

Locations

  • Foggia
  • Italy

Sources