Marta Cereda: curatorial practice between memory and periphery

Marta Cereda reflects on her curatorial approach, which often moves beyond the white cube into lived-in spaces, layering stories onto memories with literary contaminations. She recalls a 2015 project in her grandmother's apartment, titled after Dostoevsky, where she curated without a commissioner. Collaboration with German artist Thadeusz Tischbein for Video Sound Art and Manifesta12 in Palermo reinforced the need to question what remains after the spectacle of openings. Work with Adicorbetta and Testa per Testa collection provided insight into museum communication and interaction with major artists and institutions. The Circoloquadro experience taught her the importance of direct, unpretentious relationships with artists. She credits the periphery—specifically Casa Testori in Novate Milanese—for teaching her distance, a concept central to her biography and research, which also engages with cartography, geography, and the center-periphery distinction. At Casa Testori, she curated complex installations without constraints, finding satisfaction in walking alone among works and library books.