Tate's participatory artwork echoes Italian street poet Ivan's decade-long project

Ei Arakawa's participatory artwork at Tate Modern's Turbine Hall, which invited visitors to draw on the floor during summer heat, bears striking resemblance to Italian street poet Ivan's "La Grande Pagina Bianca" project. Ivan has been organizing similar collective painting events in public squares since 2007, involving over fifty Italian and international locations including Florence, Verona, Naples, Bologna, Rome, Palermo, Angers (France), Hanover (USA), and Port-au-Prince (Haiti), with multiple editions in Milan's Piazza del Duomo (2011, 2014, 2015, 2017). The most recent Ivan event occurred on July 11 during the second edition of Festivart in Lavagna, a festival of street poetry and participatory art. Ivan, a leading figure in the Street Poetry movement (distinct from Muralism and Street Art), describes his project as a "hidden poem" where participants write words, phrases, or drawings on a large canvas laid on the ground, creating a collective text with visual impact. The article questions whether the Tate's similar initiative, though differently named, constitutes a copy and hopes the decision won't be left to lawyers.