The Maria Lai Symposium at Magazzino Italian Art Museum brought together scholars and artists to explore the career and enduring legacy of one of the most remarkable figures in postwar and contemporary Italian Art. Organized as the culminating moment of Maria Lai: A Journey to America, the first major retrospective of the artist in the United States—curated by Magazzino’s Artistic Director, Paola Mura—the symposium highlighted the breadth and continued resonance of Lai’s work, which developed a radically poetic language that speaks across media and disciplines. Rooted in the landscape, culture and craft of her native Sardinia, Lai’s work is open to relations with the other, with the world, and ultimately with the universe.
Program with Timestamps
Morning Session
[00:00:00] Greetings from Adam Sheffer, Director, Magazzino Italian Art Museum
[00:02:04] Introduction by Paola Mura, Artistic Director, Magazzino Italian Art Museum
[00:17:13] Keynote Address: Michela Murgia & Maria Lai: Legarsi
Alessandro Giammei, Assistant Professor of Italian Studies, Department of Italian Studies, Yale University
[00:58:15] Q&A with Alessandro Giammei
[1:14:44] A Day in Sardinia: Maria Lai’s Telai and the Times of Craft
Michele D’Aurizio, PhD Candidate, History of Art Department, University of California, Berkeley
[1:44:31] “L’arte è indicibile” [Art is unspeakable]: Maria Lai’s Asemic Writing
Saskia Verlaan, PhD candidate in Art History, CUNY Graduate Center, New York
[2:05:00] Q&A with Michele D’Aurizio and Saskia Verlaan
Afternoon Session
[2:18:42] Presentation of the new installation, Llencols de aigua
Elisabetta Masala, Curator, Magazzino Italian Art Museum
[2:31:00] Reflections on Maria Lai
Conversation with Mila Dau
[2:43:46] A tour of Maria Lai: A Journey to America
Led by Melissa McGill
[2:58:21] Marcello Maloberti: CUORE MIO
[3:16:10] Martha Tuttle in conversation with Adam Sheffer
