Two Rome exhibitions explore Alighiero Boetti's art and life

Two exhibitions in Rome mark the 30th anniversary of Alighiero Boetti's death (Turin, 1940 – Rome, 1994). At the Accademia di San Luca, 'Raddoppiare dimezzando' (curated by Marco Tirelli) focuses on Boetti's working method, featuring his monumental postal work 'De Bouche à Oreille' – 506 stamped envelopes arranged in 11 series along a 35-meter wall, plus 50 kilims. At Tornabuoni Gallery, 'Cabinet de curiosités' (until February 22, 2025) presents documents, photos, drawings, and letters from a collection by his daughter Agata Boetti. The show includes Giorgio Colombo's photographs tracing Boetti's life from 1966, and projects like 'Classificazione dei mille fiumi più lunghi del mondo' (1977) made with Annemarie Sauzeau. Adelina von Fürstenberg, who commissioned the Grenoble project at Le Magasin in the early 1990s, describes Boetti as 'a man of the future' for his inclusivity and global vision. Agata Boetti notes her father kept everything – notes, sketches, shopping lists – in a box she later used to create the exhibition. The two shows together reveal how Boetti fused art and life, treating everyday fragments as artistic material.