Gianfranco Maraniello on the Meaning of 'Contemporary' in the Farnesina Collection

In a dialogue published on Artribune, Gianfranco Maraniello, member of the Scientific Committee of the Collezione Farnesina and former director of MAMbo in Bologna and MART in Trento and Rovereto, explores the philosophical and historical definitions of the term 'contemporary' in art. Maraniello argues that the contemporary is not a chronological period but a dynamic phase of modernity, a problem of modernism itself. He critiques the notion that everything can be considered contemporary, stating that if everything is contemporary, nothing qualifies as such. He discusses the role of Marcel Duchamp as a pivotal figure, not as an absolute beginning but as a conventional reference point that shifted focus from the art object to its meaning. For Italy, Maraniello cites artists like Lucio Fontana, Piero Manzoni, and Alberto Burri as key figures in the development of contemporary art, emphasizing that the contemporary is a collective, dialectical process rather than the work of a single genius. The interview is part of a series on the Collezione Farnesina, which houses modern and contemporary works.