Output details

'Beuys e lo sciamano:estasi, rito e arte'

(Beuys and the Shaman: Ecstasy, Ritual and Art)

The main research output is represented by a multimedia exhibition curated by Martino Nicoletti (curator and artist) and held in Perugia in 2011-2012 at the Museo di Palazzo Penna, the museum of contemporary art of Perugia, Italy.

In addition a related authored book (catalogue):

Title: L’uomo che dialogava con il coyote: una breve incursione sul tema Joseph Beuys e sciamanesimo, (The Man who Talked with the Coyote: About Joseph Beuys and Shamanism);2011 pp.63, Roma: Exòrma, ISBN: 978-8895688725.

The exhibition which was the first international event devoted to this theme received reviews, including national Italian dailies and websites devoted to contemporary art:

http://www.parolibero.net/it/spettacolo/beuys-sciamano-tibet-nicoletti-perugia.htm;

http://www.musei.regioneumbria.eu/default.aspx?IdCont=387972; http://www.giornaledellumbria.it/article/un-viaggio-con-beuys-fino-ai-confini-dellarte

Inspired by the rare and precious collection of Joseph Beuys’s ‘blackboards’ created by Joseph Beuys in 1980 during a visit to Perugia and currently hosted in a dedicated section at the Museo di Palazzo Penna, the exhibition’s main aim was to enlighten the visitor about shamanic elements characterising the creative work and thoughts of the German artist, as well as to provide a concrete example of how anthropological knowledge and art practice can concretely collaborate and dialogue in order to produce a public multimedia event.

Beuys felt that a shamanic matrix could be retraced in most of his artistic activity (drawings, installations, performances) as well as in his peculiar conception of art. According to Beuys, the aim of his creative work was to catalyse powerful vital energies in order to convey and infuse them for society and he made reference to the role played by shamans or medicine-men in primitive and pre-literate societies.

The exhibition included written information, documentary photographs, images and objects related to Beuys artworks and Himalayan shamanic art, presenting a selection of multimedia installations and sound sculptures. The Lineage, is permanently hosted in the section of the Museum dedicated to Beuys blackboards.

The exhibition related to the event, entitled: L’uomo che dialogava con il coyote (The Man who Talked with the Coyote: About Joseph Beuys and Asian Shamanism). The work was composed of texts, photos and drawings related to Beuys’s installations and performances, with an interview by the author with the German anthropologist Michael Oppitz who had discussed with Joseph Beuys the link between his creative work and Himalayan shamanism.

The research demonstrates the unequivocal shamanic matrix that can be retraced in most of Beuys’s artistic activity (drawings, installations, performances) as well as in his peculiar conception of art.

Composed of texts, photos and drawings related to Beuys’s installations and performances, the book is contains an interview by the author to the German anthropologist Michael Oppitz who, on several occasion, had the opportunity to personally discuss with Joseph Beuys the link between his creative work and Himalayan shamanism.