(8 agosto 2018) The exhibition “Contemporary Treasures on the 40th parellel north. Armenia welcomes the Italian art of Basilicata” was inaugurated on August 4th and received great success among the public and critics. which was inaugurated on 4 August. The vernissage was attended by distinguished guests and institutional representatives, in particular the new Armenian Minister of Culture Lilit Makunts, the Deputy Minister Nazeni Gharibyan, and the Treasurer of State Vahe Arakelyan, and Shomby Sharp the representative of the United Nations in Armenia. The exhibition, curated by Aniello Ertico, Melanie Zefferino, and Lilit Hovhanisyan, is the result of the collaboration between Porta Coeli art gallery, Centro Studi per la Cultura del Mediterraneo, and the Academy of Higher Education in Venosa with the Nur Art Gallery in Yerevan. Paintings by Salvatore Comminiello, the sculptures by Antonio Saluzzi and Nisio Lopergolo, the art jewels by Manuela Telesca, artistic photographs by Karmil Cardone, and Aniello Ertico’s video will be on display until August 18th. The public and media representatives, including Arm TV, welcomed the exhibition project, the first expression of a broad synergy aimed at creating an artistic dialogue between two distant but similar cultural areas: Armenia and Italy of Basilicata. As evidence of an interest by the institutions, an Italian delegation was received privately by the Ministry of Culture of Armenia and its advisers. The event turned out to be extremely positive as it allowed us to lay the foundations for a wider artistic and cultural exchange and promotion between Armenia and Basilicata, also in view of the events for the celebration Matera as the European Capital of Culture 2019.
