Madre di Napoli Unveils 2020-2021 Season with New Director Kathryn Weir

The Madre museum in Naples has announced its 2020-2021 programming, the first under new artistic director Kathryn Weir and the first annual calendar in its history. The season was delayed from March due to the pandemic. President Laura Valente explained that instead of simply postponing dates, the museum reworked projects to engage with contemporary themes of social inclusion and ecology. The season opens with a video by Mathilde Rosier (October 24–November 16), followed by a retrospective of Alessandro Mendini (October 29–February 1, 2021), the first in a public Italian museum since his death in 2019. Other highlights include 'Rethinking Nature' (December 17–April 12, 2021), a multidisciplinary platform curated by Weir and Ilaria Conti; 'Peter Lindbergh: Untold Stories' (March 25–June 28, 2021), co-produced with Kunstpalast Düsseldorf; and 'Bellezza e Terrore' (April 24–June 28, 2021), a collaboration with Goethe-Institut Napoli addressing colonialism and fascism. A special project, Art-Ethics, launches with Ghanaian artist Ibrahim Mahama in residence, a partnership with Luiss Business School's Ethos Observatory. The season also includes a photographic exhibition by Carlo Verdone, 'Nuvole e colori', opening July 30 with a public talk. Funding comes from POC (Strategic Complementary Plan for Culture). The museum reopened to the public at the start of Phase 2 and commissioned a playground by Temitayo Ogunbiyi, on view until November 2, 2020.