1 I don’t believe in democracy. Nor do I believe art is democratic. Democracy is just a form of social and cultural control exercised by those who have power over those who do not. The same is true of art or the art system. Who says art can intervene in society, furthermore as some kind of “critical voice”. Critical of what? And then, the debates in progress… debates about what? I think artists or culture professionals should be debating, precisely, about the state of ignorance – mine and yours – that is drowning us and making us the spectators and cohorts of a social and cultural system that always supports us just halfway. Never all the way.
2 You should ask the politicians, the Berlusconians and the anti-Berlusconians, why art institutions spend their funds on their own management. You should ask the latter, in particular, who fill their living rooms with catalogues gotten as gifts and books they have never read. That’s the only “budget” they know.
3 I wouldn’t know how to plan alternative forms of financing. Probably they would have to rely on the private sector. Even on private individuals, collectors, people who love art, speculators of all kinds. Maybe all these private energies could be a bit more allied, without organizing into ranks like the fans at the stadium.
6 Artworks are made to be sold, and as a result it is normal that a sort of competition develops among artists. The important thing is for it to by healthy competition. Precariousness in the art system is the result of a lack of culture, the lack of an institutional economy managed by the political class and by industrial capital. Non-profit spaces? An excellent showcase through which to get to profit, the marketing of the artwork.
7 Artists have no responsibility. Our task is to work (in solitude or not), to produce works and show them. The stage (or the vitality, the cultural quality of the city, and so on) has to be built by the ruling class with the help of excellent counterparts (foundations, museums, various spaces…) who interact with artists.
8 Politics is one thing, art is another. I don’t believe that in the present situation a direct dialogue with politicians or administrators of who knows what is possible, nor is it possible with the commissions – which are a great showcase for a variety of time wasters in search of a chance for some free exposure.
9 I have always felt like a rather anomalous Roman, I do not scorn Romanness. I would be happy if Macro or MAXXI did a retrospective on Franco Califano. But they are so caught up in their desire to be trendy, they’d even reject their relatives. They suffer from a bad case of xenophilia. Rome doesn’t talk about Rome and the art system is completely disconnected from the urban context. It is thus normal that artists feels manipulated whenever an art institution approaches them.
10 I don’t believe a municipal or federal dimension can help Rome. The problem is not Rome, it is Italy. I think of a political, social and, as a result, cultural system that is solid, clear, transparent, efficient, and above all has a national character. Starting with the last factor, it is possible to create transnational networks.
ANDREA SALVINO
Artist. Lives and works in Berlin.