La Crescentina: A Monferrato Farmhouse Transformed into an Art Lab

In Fubine, Monferrato, La Crescentina – Laboratorio per l’Arte opened in 2021 as a public cultural space, evolving from a private farmhouse acquired in the mid-1980s by collector Alessandro Monteforte. For over thirty years, the cascina hosted artists, critics, and gallerists, accumulating unique works—like hand-carved wooden benches by Urano Palma. After the 2020 lockdown, Monteforte and Fiorella Miraglio founded an association to open the space, now housing part of the Monteforte-Miraglio Collection (about 200 works of modern, contemporary art and design) between Monferrato and Turin. Until July 19, the exhibition "Mani di Terra" (curated by Marzia Capannolo with critical contribution by Paolo Repetto) presents ceramic sculpture by 20th-century masters and contemporary artists. Highlights include a 1956 glazed terracotta crucifix by Lucio Fontana, works by Fausto Melotti, Nanni Valentini, Carlo Zauli, and Nedda Guidi, alongside contemporary artists Bruno Ceccobelli, Maïmouna Guerresi, Ana Hillar, Kazumasa Mizokami, and Riccardo Monachesi. The show explores ceramics as a field of experimentation, moving beyond decoration to address spirituality, social critique, and material research. This is La Crescentina's twelfth temporary exhibition.