A.I. The Place/Non-Place Where Art and Fashion Meet in Rome

The fashion world as we conceive it is a result of different forces, influences and ideas from other fields which have converged in it. Art, for instance, played a central part in the renovation of the archetypes of creation, expression and style. From the 1980s on, Graffiti, Feminism, Performance and Conceptual Art has entered in fashion passing through the front door: the Haute Couture. Few held the line against the imposition of rules that were not from their own world; Rome is for sure one of the cities that played a strength opposition to these new form of hybridization and paid it with a gradual departure from it by the leading figures of the fashion system.

A.I. Artisanal Intelligence, Galleria Giacomo Guidi, Rome

Nowadays, during its fashion week AltaRoma, Rome hosts an exhibition that puts together art and fashion with a scientific, high-cultural, footprint: A.I. Artisanal Intelligence, an idea by Alessio De Navasques and Clara Tosi Pamphili. «We work on contemporary creativity, which is above fashion and not only about it. Our aim is to promote the Made in Italy together with public and private Institutions in a way that bring young designers, artisans and artists to the attention of a greater public», says De Navasques. On its last venue A.I. took place in the new Roman Giacomo Guidi gallery: the location was still a “work in progress” and its rooms and corridors were filled with the smell of fresh paint. «It has been a privilege to inaugurate such a gallery in June (whose official opening took place in September, ndr) with our project. We had works of international artists set in a perfect dialogue with the creations of our selection of designers», explains the curator, «Jannis Kounellis, Nahum Tevet, Gerold Miller, Sophie Tottie, Matteo Montani, Maurizio Donzelli, Hidetoshi Nagasawa are names that are bond to our city and the art pieces we choose for this special dialogue are a sort of link between the work of each one involved in the exhibition».

Designer Arthur Arbesser, opera di Alessandro Sarra, Galleria Giacomo Guidi

Designer Arthur Arbesser, opera di Alessandro Sarra, A.i. Artisanal Intellugence, Galleria Giacomo Guidi, Rome,

Since 2010 A.I. lived in several places of Rome, putting in light an underground energy that is a peculiar characteristic of the city: the last generation of talents understood that as far as it is not possible to delete centuries of history, they can set a deal with them rebuilding a language that is a melting pot. A.I. showed to the professionals involved in fashion that Rome has a pushing force that is as handy as it is spread in different corners of the city and gave to the notion of “non-place” a new dress. Some of the emerging designers seen in Rome during AltaRoma and A.I. have been “the one to watch” and are now influencing figures of the fashion system. «We keep alive A.I. during the year both with collaborations with other fairs of art, architecture and fashion such as the Biennale di Venezia and the Salone del Mobile di Milano and with our work on the website. We host a blog where we talk about what’s going on in our world and use it as an observatory of trends» and, to complete De Navasque’s quote, it seems a good strategy.

A.I. Artisanal Intelligence is in full progress for its next edition.