Christian Caliandro's 'Spazi matriarcali' Reflects on Avant-Garde Migration

Christian Caliandro's essay 'Spazi matriarcali. La migrazione dell’avanguardia' (Matriarchal Spaces: The Migration of the Avant-Garde), published on Artribune in November 2020, is a philosophical travelogue written from a train journey from Turin to Bari, Italy, between October 4 and 10, 2020. Caliandro reflects on the transformation of avant-garde art in the digital age, arguing that conceptual and post-conceptual practices have become mainstream, while true innovation has migrated elsewhere—toward technical craftsmanship, introspection, romanticism, nostalgia, vernacular language, human relationships, and community-oriented art. He cites Paul B. Preciado, Constantine Cavafy, Philip K. Dick, Jeanette Winterson, Allan Kaprow, and Dan Graham, and references Blade Runner films and Valentina Tanni's book 'Memestetica'. The essay is part of a series on matriarchal spaces, exploring themes of evolution, trauma, memory, and collective creation in a pandemic context.