Six Books on Art and Politics Reviewed

Artribune's Marco Enrico Giacomelli reviews six books exploring the intersection of art and politics. Philippe Daverio's "Quattro conversazioni sull'Europa" (Rizzoli Electa, 2019) collects his talks at Milan's Teatro Carcano, emphasizing his Europeanist political vision. Kurt Tucholsky and John Heartfield's "Deutschland, Deutschland über alles" (Meltemi, 2018) satirizes the Weimar Republic that bred Nazism; both authors lost German citizenship. Marco Scotini's edited volume "Utopian Display. Geopolitiche curatoriali" (Quodlibet, 2019) examines curatorial challenges amid globalization and deglobalization, featuring critics like Ute Meta Bauer, Charles Esche, Anselm Franke, Simon Njami, Hou Hanru, and Vasif Kortun. Gabriele D'Autilia's "La guerra cieca" (Meltemi, 2018) analyzes the paradox of World War I occurring just after photography and cinema spread, yet the conflict became invisible due to trenches and censorship. Luca Beatrice's "Arte è libertà? Censura e censori al tempo del web" (Giubilei Regnani, 2020) argues that political correctness has led to censorship from progressive quarters, citing the Saul Fletcher case. Manuela Piccolo's "Indisciplinata+" (Postmedia Books, 2020) reworks her NABA thesis under Giorgio Verzotti, exploring indiscipline in contemporary art through dialogues with Lea Vergine, Franco Vaccari, Giuseppe Chiari, Premiata Ditta, Armando Marrocco, Pippa Bacca, and Cesare Pietroiusti.