10 Years of European Alternatives at MAXXI Museum

The event takes place in the framework of THE INDEPENDENT, a research project by MAXXI created to broaden and challenge the current limits of museum institutions and to stimulate and elaborate new ways of acting in contemporary times.

The first chapter consists of a day of debates, on 26 March, date of the 60th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome. Recognising the role arts play in social and political change, the day wants to activate a reflection of the meaning of the Union and on the responsibilities of political, cultural and artistic institutions.

Never as in this moment in history, the very foundations of Europe have been questioned as much as today: Brexit, migration, financial crisis and climate change are only some of the challenges we face. The aim is to put these words in dialogue on crucial issues like democracy, equality and culture.

Some of the participants are critic and curator Maria Hlavajova, writer and MEP Barbara Spinelli, artist and Vice President of the Spanish Parliament Marcelo Exposito, artists Tania Bruguera, Cesare Pietroiusti and Jonas Staal, co-founders of European Alternatives Lorenzo Marsili and Niccolò Milanese, and the artistic director of MAXXI Hou Hanru.

The time and space between debating sessions will be filled by performing actions by the Kinkaleri group presenting All!, a project of language structure in physical, verbal, visual, sound paths aimed at the development of thought in a total freedom of expression.

The second chapter is a map dedicated to presenting the social and cultural movements that happened in Europe since the explosion of the financial crisis in 2008 until today. The hypothesis – at the basis of the methodology of European Alternatives – is that a European citizenship and a transnational demos are building through practices of dissent, contesting and organisation beyond national borders, from European movements for refugees to the fight against austerity policies, from the continental mobilisation for water as a common good to the struggle of women.

The work of Raparelli, rooted in the art of comics, gives back the path of an independent reality that never stopped exploring and acting a different idea of Europe.

The events will take place at MAXXI Museum (Via Guido Reni, 4/A) in Rome.

Read more about the 10th Anniversary of European Alternatives on the official website of the event.