Digital Archive of Italian Visual Counterculture Goes Online
An online digital archive featuring over 1,000 documents related to visual counterculture has been introduced, the result of a partnership between the Fondazione Echaurren Salaris and the Bibliotheca Hertziana – Max Planck Institute for Art History. This project is part of Rome Contemporary, which seeks to reevaluate Rome's significance in 20th- and 21st-century art. The collection boasts 30,000 high-resolution images of fanzines, drawings, notes, and magazines, showcasing works by artist Pablo Echaurren from the 1960s and 1970s. Echaurren's archive plays a crucial role in understanding post-1968 political and artistic movements in Italy. Additionally, the Bibliotheca Hertziana has announced two post-doctoral research fellowships focused on art and counterculture in postwar Italy.
Key facts
- Over 1,000 documents on visual counterculture now available online.
- Collaboration between Bibliotheca Hertziana and Fondazione Echaurren Salaris.
- Part of Rome Contemporary initiative by Department Weddigen Art of the Modern Age.
- 30,000 high-resolution scans of fanzines, notes, drawings, manuscripts, magazines.
- Includes fanzines A/Traverso, Viola, and Oask?!.
- Core archive belongs to artist Pablo Echaurren, covering 1970s works and collected materials.
- Echaurren's archive is the most important collection of post-1968 political-artistic creativity in Italy.
- Collection expanded in the 1990s with books by Echaurren and Claudia Salaris.
- Involved intellectuals like Calvesi and Umberto Eco.
- Oask?! was a collective project with Fabrizio Gabianelli and others.
- Bibliotheca Hertziana launched two post-doc fellowships on art and counterculture in postwar Italy.
- Digitization and online consultation handled by the institute's library.
Entities
Artists
- Pablo Echaurren
- Gianfranco Baruchello
- Arturo Schwarz
- Fabrizio Gabianelli
- Calvesi
- Umberto Eco
Institutions
- Bibliotheca Hertziana – Max Planck Institute for Art History
- Fondazione Echaurren Salaris
- Rome Contemporary
- Department Weddigen Art of the Modern Age in a Global Context
- Max Planck Society
- Linus
- Frigidaire
Locations
- Rome
- Italy