Why produce art now?, the seminar conducted by Adelita Husni-Bey, focuses on the question of artistic production in this precise historical moment, in this country. The topic is explored through visual and sound ethnography, through the awareness produced by the research itself. 

After a short introduction to the basic ideas of the workshop, the participants will be involved in a day of observation and “recording” of the spaces around the Museo del Novecento, applying four ethnographic techniques: listening to “stolen” conversations, written description, interviews and photography. While the methods, the possibilities and limitations of each technique will be explained, it will be the participants, divided into small groups, that decide on the places to investigate, the questions to ask themselves and others, while they listen, write and conduct interviews. At the end of the first day they will be asked to think about how the research and the main question Perché produrre arte adesso? (Why produce art now?) are intertwined. On the following morning, the students will try to understand if and how to formalize the research (with zero budget), considering the fact that the encounter with the public will happen through a walk choreographed by the students, leading visitors into the four selected places. During the walk, the students will have a chance to involve the public in answering the question that gives the seminar its title, and to present their research from the previous day.

Effetto Venturi is a cycle of seminars and meetings on issues tied to the transmission of artistic know-how. The title is inspired by the “Venturi effect”, the hydrodynamic paradox whereby the velocity of a fluid increases when it flows through a constricted section of pipe. This principle of physics thus becomes a possible metaphor for the dynamics each artist enacts through research, production and the transmission of artistic knowledge to younger generations of artists. 

The first season of Effetto Venturi, conducted in 2011–12 and focusing on the Italian scene, is now being followed by a new cycle that extends the investigation to the international setting. It involves artists who, for years, have participated actively in conveying artistic knowledge through their teaching and research outside Italy.

Effetto Venturi is conducted with the contribution of the Fondazione Cariplo.