Art from the Netherlands in Prato and the Bisenzio valley. Curated by Thom Puckey. Prato and the Bisenzio valley will play host to the "Territoria. Art from the Nederlands in Prato and the Bisenzio Valley" exhibition, a unique chance to get acquainted with Dutch contemporary art as well as discovering the old textile factories that wrote the history of the city and its surrounding area. The event is promoted by: The Tuscan Region, TRA ART (regional network for contemporary art), the Province of Prato, the Mountain Community of the Bisenzio Valley, the Luigi Pecci Centre for Contemporary Art in Prato, and the Municipalities of Prato, Cantagallo, Vaiano and Vernio; with the support of the Mondriaan Foundation Amsterdam; the participation of: The Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Italy, ASM S.p.A.-Ambiente Servizi Mobilità, Gruppo CONSIAG Prato, Fartex di Franco Affortunati, Francioni F.A., Gruppo Tintoriale S.p.A. Prato, Reale Mutua Assicurazioni Prato, Tintoria di Paolo e Marcello Giachini; and in cooperation with: The Prato and Province Tourism Agency, A.S.V.A.I.P. (Prato association for the study and appreciation of industrial archaeology), CAP Autolinee Prato, CITROËN Rossomandi Prato. The project is the brainchild of artist Thom Puckey who, here, takes on the mantle of curator, and Valdemaro Baccaglia, a Prato collector, and its aim is to bring a broad range of works by contemporary Dutch artists who have never exhibited in Italy before, and blend them in with the territory, and especially with many of the most intriguing industrial archaeology sites of the province. The factories, which were built from the second half of the nineteenth century up to World War II bear historic witness to the diligence of the whole province and to the extent of its economic development. These buildings, most of which are dilapidated and in danger of disappearing for ever, now offer potential for renovation and urban development. This is the reason Prato and the Bisenzio valley was selected for the Dutch event; indeed the Netherlands has been developing a policy of encouraging and disseminating art throughout its territory for some years. The itinerary begins at the Luigi Pecci Centre for Contemporary Art in Prato with two installations: edited footage inside the museum from Johan van der Keuken's film Time/Work introduces the idea of work while in the Museum's outside garden there will be a surprising "cinema" by Job Koelewijn giving us an ideal "vision" of the territory and the whole exhibition. The second location in the town of Prato will be the cycle-pedestrian track near the Datini bridge where the large bronze statue commissioned for the occasion to Gijs Assmann will be placed and where it will be on permanent show after the event has ended. This work, with its strong realism, is linked to the memory and the Vanitas deriving from 17th century Dutch art. This is where an even stronger interaction between art, nature and industry will begin to develop all along the Bisenzio valley. We begin with the Gruppo Tintoriale S.p.A. factory, where the Elisabet Stienstra and Thom Puckey sculptures will be on permanent show, then the Cartaia (former paper mill) in the town of Vaiano, where the works of Karin Arink, Gijs Assmann, Martha Colburn, Armen Eloyan, Gijs Frieling, Rosemin Hendriks, Natasja Kensmil, Mariette Linders, Rik Meijers, Thom Puckey, Dieuwke Spaans, Elisabet Stienstra will be presented, all with the common denominator of strength of expression and bigness of the images. The works will be arranged in the evocative, colonnaded "big room" of the Cartaia in order to suggest borders, roads, passages and barriers. The works by the two best-known artists internationally, JCJ Vanderheyden and Ger Van Elk, will, instead, be on show in Mulinaccio in the aristocratic villa of the same name. The Giachini factory (formerly Romei) north of Carmignanello in the municipality of Cantagallo is the last stop but one of the event, and in this disused area, now about to be renovated, the Martha Colburn animated films will be presented the last of which is featured in this year's "new directors" section at the Cannes Film Festival. They will appear alongside a minute floral composition specially painted on the wall by Gijs Frieling and a series of monumental sculptures in white polyester by Tom Claasen. The latter, created for this event, are set in the context of another work by Classen inside the Cantagallo Acquerino nature reserve in which fantastic human-like figures in assembled sections of tree-trunks lie alongside a centuries-old beech tree. Finally, in the historical Lanificio Val Bisenzio (former Peyron) woollen mill at Molin Novo in the municipality of Vernio, the major bronze works of Henk Visch and the environmental installations of Karin Arink, Job Koelewijn, and John Körmeling take up almost the whole first floor of the factory launching a dialogue with the production which is still carried on today. A catalogue will appear for the event with essays by Raffaele Gavarro and Alex de Vries published by Gli Ori, Prato; furthermore, there will be a concert by Misha Mengelberg & Han Bennink, on 23 June at 9.30 p.m. in the Pecci Centre open-air theatre for the "Prato Estate" seasonal events, and a convention promoted by the TRA ART-regional network for contemporary art at the Officina Giovani (former Prato abattoir). Exhibition locations: The Luigi Pecci Centre for Contemporary Art, Prato Gruppo Tintoriale, Prato Cartaia, Vaiano Mulinaccio Villa, Vaiano Giachini factory (formerly Romei), Cantagallo Francioni F.A. (former Peyron factory), Vernio Opening hours: Luigi Pecci Centre for Contemporary Art: Mon-Fri 11 am-6 pm, closed Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays. Other exhibition locations: Fri, Sat, Sun: 4 pm-8.30 pm. Gruppo Tintoriale: on demand (tel +39 0574 470510) Admission to all locations is free of charge OSPITALITÀ NELLA VAL DI BISENZIO - AFFITTACAMERE E AGRITURISMI: AFFITTACAMERE: Casa Di Nuvola Via di Cantagallo - 5 Cantagallo Tel. +39 0574 933170 cellulare/mobile 338 3163353 Casa Bartolini Via di Savignano - 21 Vaiano Tel. +39 0574 988188 Tacconi Mario Via E. Bertini - 29 Schignano - Vaiano Tel. Fax +39 0574 983396 cellulare/mobile 328 4717637 Il Noce, Bed & Breakfast Località Luciana S.Quirico di Vernio - Vernio. Tel. +39 0574 940012 Casa Masi Località Celle/Corboli S.Quirico di Vernio - Vernio. Tel. +39 0574 938126 AGRITURISMO: Agriturismo S.Stefano, loc. S.Stefano 1 Cantagallo. Tel. +39 0574 981522 - + 39 0574 989044 cellulare/mobile 338 1062333 Castiglioncello, loc. Migliana 21 Cantagallo. cellulare/mobile 347 3734023 - Fax +39 0574 981124 agri_castiglioncello@tiscali.it Corboli, loc. I Corboli Corboli - Vernio. Tel. +39 0574 938126 www.agriturismocorboli.it Cascina di Spedaletto, loc. Cascina di Spedaletto Spedaletto - Cantagallo. Tel. +39 0574 933046 La Bonosa, loc. La Bonosa 93 Sasseta - Vernio. Tel. +39 0574 957250 labonosa@ciaoweb.it Il Ginestreto, loc. Gavazzoli 93 Saletto - Vernio. Tel. +39 0574 981597 Mocali Paolo, loc. Il Gallo San Quirico di Vernio. Tel. +39 0574 938036 - cellulare/mobile 333 3323519 www.cortefiorita.com Ponte alla Villa, via La Villa La Villa - Cantagallo. Tel. +39 0574 956244 Selvapiana, loc. Selvapiana Cantagallo. Tel. +39 0574-956045 - cellulare/mobile 335 6817840 www.agriturismoselvapiana.it Informazioni: Comunità Montana della Val di Bisenzio: t. 0574 931211 - www.bisenzio.it Centro per l'Arte Contemporanea Luigi Pecci: tel. 0574 5317 Ufficio Stampa Centro per l'arte Contemporanea Luigi Pecci t. 0574 531828 - fax 0574 531900 press@centroartepecci.prato.it

Exposerende kunstenaar(s) / exhibited artist(s): Karin Arink - Gijs Assmann - Tom Claassen - Martha Colburn - Ger van Elk - Armen Eloyan - Gijs Frieling - Rosemin Hendriks - Natasja Kensmil - Johan van der Keuken - Job Koelewijn - John Körmeling - Mariëtte Linders - Rik Meijers - Thom Puckey - Dieuwke Spaans - Elisabet Stienstra - JCJ Vanderheyden - Henk Visch

Luigi Pecci Centre for Contemporary Art Viale della Repubblica, 277, I-59100 Prato, +39-574-5317, open: ma t/m vr 11.00-18.00 Expositieperiode van 12 juni t/m 18 september 2005