Piper Club's Legacy to Be Revived at Artissima 2017

At Artissima 2017, curator Paola Nicolin will recreate the spirit of Turin's legendary Piper Club (1966–1969) in a program titled 'the classroom' at Oval Lingotto from November 2 to 5. The Piper, designed by architect Pietro Derossi with Giorgio Ceretti and Riccardo Rosso, was a non-institutional space for contemporary art, hosting performances by Carmelo Bene, Living Theatre, Open Theatre, and Arte Povera artists like Pistoletto, Gilardi, and Merz. Derossi, who also managed the club with his wife Graziella Gay, recalls that every day featured a different happening. Nicolin's project includes a course by Seb Patane, a reworking of the Piper archive by Superbudda, conversations, and a film commission with Rä di Martino. The program aims to explore the discotheque as a possible imaginary, focusing on information technology, play, architecture as event, and conversation as exchange. Nicolin emphasizes that the Piper remains an international model of a self-managed cultural center, and that no art fair has ever built a functioning discotheque. Collaborators include Gufram, the Centro di Conservazione e Restauro La Venaria Reale, and F/ART. The initiative coincides with the 50th anniversary of Arte Povera.