– Thursday September 26^th, 2019. 15:30 – 17:30 | Despar Teatro Italia
Michael Lüthy, Bauhaus-Universität Weimar.
Introduced by Diego Mantoan and Stefania Portinari, Università Ca’ Foscari di Venezia.

– Friday September 27^th, 2019. 15:30 – 17:30 | Ca’ Dolfin, Aula Magna Silvio Trentin
Wolfgang Huemer, Università degli Studi di Parma. 
Micaela Latini, Università degli Studi dell’Insubria.
Introduced by Roberta Dreon and Luigi Perissinotto, Università Ca’ Foscari di Venezia.

– Saturday October 12^th, 2019. 17:30 – 19:30 | Despar Teatro Italia
Francesco Urbano Ragazzi, curators of HILLARY: The Hillary Clinton Emails.
Paul B. Preciado, curator of the Taiwan Pavilion at the 58th Biennale di Venezia.
Organized by Donatella Bernardi and Nicola Genovese, ZHdK; Introduced by Francesco Tenaglia, Mousse Magazine.

– Wednesday November 27^th, 2019. 18:30 – 21:30 | Teatrino di Palazzo Grassi
Kenneth Goldsmith, University of Pennsylvania.
Introduced by Francesco Urbano Ragazzi with the participation of Roberta Dreon and Luigi Perissinotto.
Following, a selection of films by Stan VanDerBeek.

Despar Teatro Italia is proud to announce the Fall Public Program of HILLARY: The Hillary Clinton Emails, an exhibition by Kenneth Goldsmith (Freeport, New York 1961) curated by the duo Francesco Urbano Ragazzi in conjunction with the 58^th Venice Biennale of Visual Arts. The educational program, free and open to the public, has been made possible by the Università Ca’ Foscari Venezia, the Zurich University of the Arts, Zuecca Projects and thanks to the precious contributions of Palazzo Grassi – Punta della Dogana.

Goldsmith’s work displayed in Venice is an environmental installation which imitates the furniture of the White House. It also makes the 30,000 emails Hillary Clinton sent and received between 2009 and 2013 on her personal account, as she the former senator was Secretary of State, available and consultable by the visitors. A series of lectures, workshops and screenings will expand the research lines and the political reach of the exhibition.

On September 26^th and 27^th, 2019, a seminar made possible by the Philosophy and Cultural Heritage department of the Università Ca’ Foscari in collaboration with the Human Studies department of the same institution, will analyze the theoretical premises of Kenneth Goldsmith’s literary ready-made. Art historian Michael Lüthy, philosopher of mind and language Wolfgang Huemer, German culture expert Micaela Latini will discuss terms such as reality, realism and intentionality in view of the influence exercized by Ludwig Wittgenstein on contemporary visual culture.

On October 12^th, a day conference organized together with the Master Fine Arts program of the Department of Art & Media of the Zurich University of the Arts ZHdK will welcome as guest of honor the critic and activist Paul B. Preciado. Starting from his experience curating Taiwan’s national pavilion for the Venice Biennale, he will talk about his radical approach to the political representation of the transgender identity. The meeting will be introduced by a lecture by Francesco Urbano Ragazzi and will be moderated by Francesco Tenaglia, director of Mousse Magazine.

The grand finale will be held on November 27^th at the Teatrino di Palazzo Grassi, where Kenneth Goldsmith will be presenting his book I Declare a Permanent State of Happiness (Eris Press 2019), as well as discussing his monumental project Printing Out The Internet and UbuWeb, the immense online archive of audiovisual avant-garde works which the artist himself launched in 1996. Following Goldsmith’s presentation, a screening of rare films by director Stan VanDerBeek, leading member of the New American Cinema Group, whose works are archived and available on UbuWeb.

The public program of HILLARY: The Hillary Clinton Emails pays homage to the venue which hosts the exhibition, a true architectural jewel that has been constantly transforming over more than one century of its existence. Indeed, the Teatro Italia is a film theatre inaugurated in 1916, richly frescoed by some of the artists who enlivened Ca’ Pesaro. After a rigorous renovation which led to reopen the building to the public, the cinema has been turned into a supermarket by Despar Aspiag Service in 2016. Furthermore, between the ‘80s and ‘90s the building has been a part of the Ca’ Foscari University campus. The HILLARY. Fall Public Program Project allows thus every identity of this extraordinary place to exist and coexist once more on the same timeline.

[photo: Gerda Studio]