Lia Cecchin: Art as Sociological Inquiry and Sustainable Practice

Lia Cecchin (b. 1987, Feltre; lives in Turin) is an Italian artist whose practice blends sociological observation, sustainable material use, and relational engagement. After a degree in Visual and Performing Arts at IUAV Venice, she participated in residencies at Fondazione Spinola Banna, Fondazione Bevilacqua La Masa, Halle 14 Leipzig, Progetto Diogene, Lastation, and Museo Madre (curated by La Quadriennale di Roma). Her works have been exhibited at AKV ('s-Hertogenbosch), GAM Milan, Associazione Barriera Turin, Fabbrica del Vapore Milan, MAMbo Bologna, and others. On September 24, 2020, her public artwork "Una città cancella, l'altra scrive" (curated by Luca Cerizza) was installed at Parco di Villa Croce in Genoa. Cecchin's approach prioritizes existing objects over reproduction, driven by sustainability and immediacy. Her ongoing project ASAP Research Library (2013–) rethinks the library as a cultural device, collecting books on the future and evolving through public contributions. Her work "Dada Poem (To a Fearless Female)" at MAMbo (curated by Lorenzo Balbi) used texts commissioned from authors based on phrases from low-cost clothing. Cecchin distances herself from decorative or narrowly political art, instead focusing on urgent, observable phenomena. Her neon sign "è un momentaccio!" in Genoa references a 1976 Turin graffiti, emphasizing cyclical time and community over individual hardship.