Self-portrait

by Carla Lonzi
translated by Allison Grimaldi Donahue
Divided Publishing

Introduction:
Annarosa Buttarelli Philosopher and scientific advisor of the Carla Lonzi Archive at the Galleria Nazionale

Speakers:
Allison Grimaldi Donahue Poet, Writer and Translator
Cecilia Canziani Curator, Art Critic and Professor
Caterina Riva Curator, Art Critic and Director at MACTE Termoli

Moderators:
Anna Gorchakovskaya e Francesca Palmieri
Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea

Since 2018 the Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea has been home to the Carla Lonzi Archive. The Archive’s materials are internationally renowned for its importance for the fields of art history and gender studies. As a living creature that inhabits our present, the Carla Lonzi Archive has been activated by the museum through a wide range of projects, under the direction of Cristiana Collu: the festival Women Out of Joint, the open calls After Hegel, Who Are We Going to Spit On e Shut up. Or rather, speak, oltre alla grande mostra Io dico Io – I say I. Nel 2021, l’Archivio è stato digitalizzato da Google Arts & Culture, ed è ora completamente accessibile online nell’ambito del programma del museo Women Up.

In light of its commitment to enhancing and promoting study and research of Carla Lonzi’s heritage, the Galleria Nazionale is particularly pleased to present the first English translation of Carla Lonzi’s Self-portrait (Autoritratto) by Allison Grimadi Donahue for Divided Publishing.

Recorded and transcribed throughout the 1960s, Carla Lonzi’s Self-portrait ruptures the narration of post-war modern art in Italy and beyond. The book presents the interviews, disintegrated and reassembled by Carla Lonzi, with fourteen major artists working at the time (all men except one) and introduces
an innovative approach to art criticism. With this work Lonzi abolishes the role of the critic, seeking change over self-preservation by theorizing against the act of theorizing.

In 2022, this English translation brings Lonzi’s final work of criticism to an international audience for the first time. After the digitalization of the Archive, which contains a significant corpus of materials and documents referred to the original drafting and publication of Autoritratto, this translation represents another important step in promoting the Carla Lonzi Archive. The project has been supported and strongly wanted by the Galleria Nazionale from the very beginning.

The event will be held in English.
A recording will be available after the event.

To order the book: divided.online/#self-portrait