Naima Morelli

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Italy

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British webmagazine Middle East Monitor has just published my interview with Italian researcher Luce Lacquaniti, author of the upcoming book “I Muri di Tunisi: Segni di Rivolta” (The Walls of Tunis: Signs of Revolt). I walked away from interviewing Luce inspired and excited – she is extremely knowledgeable and passionate with her subject matter. Plus her research has all the elements that I’ve always loved – the people, the art and the revolution. I really can’t wait for her book to come out!

Here’s the link to the interview

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The Australian webmagazine RAVEN has just published my guide to the art galleries in Rome – I wish I has something like this when I first came to the Eternal city! But I’ve to say, it has been an amazing quest to discover all the galleries little by little – my constant practice as a vernissage gal has finally paid off! For this guide I’ve planned an itinerary which includes meals and gelato breaks. If you are in really a good mood you might get to visit all the galleries enlisted in one go!

Here’s the link to the guide

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Here I am with my inevitable red hat, in the third video realized by the news agency TeenPress. In a previous post I already mentioned my participation to this project by the association Arciragazzi Roma, targeted to young adults. Questionable logo, but heaps of passion. For this report I interview the people behind the publishing house Biancoenero. In Italy they have been the first to create children books marked by what they call “high readability”. That means books easily readable by kids affected by dyslexia, cognitive problems or simply “reluctant readers”. It’s always such fun realizing these reports and it gives us also a chance to sneak into amazing Roman buildings. And now for the video (in Italian)

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Introducing my Times of Malta article number three! It’s really great the main newspaper of this gorgeous island gives me the chance to write about big names in the art world (you might remember my pieces on Marina Abramovic and Shaun Gladwell) with such freedom. It’s sometimes hard to keep down the world count, but I can’t complain! This time I interview British artist  Eddie Peake about his new show in Rome, called “A Historical Masturbators” currently on display at Lorcan O’Neill gallery.

Here’s the link to the interview

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My interview with Indonesian sculptor and artist Dolorosa Sinaga has just been published on the Italian magazine Art a Part of Cult(ure) with the title “Freedom is the foundation for everything”. In the interview we discuss political activism during the dictatorship, Jakarta vs London and the followers of… Doloism!

Here’s the link to the article

Dolorosa Sinaga’s interview has been my second in Jakarta for my infamous reportage about contemporary art in Indonesia which is now… guess what? A book! In Italian. Which you can purchase here.

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Sooo… updates from my life! In the middle of my usual freelance hustling and my book launch, I have also took a new collaboration on. I’m talking about my debut as video journalist for a news agency run by a cultural association in Rome, an experience which I find both exciting and challenging. The whole team is great; they are genuine, interesting and friendly people. Then of course, talking and doing interviews in front of a camera is a relatively new experience for me. Prior to that, I’ve only took part in a series of video interviews in artists’ studios, but here I’m basically presenting the whole thing. The guys have been merciful and my first report has been about an event at MAXXI, the contemporary art museum of Rome – so at least I was playing in my home court.

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I’m delighted to announce that my book “Arte Contemporanea in Indonesia” is finally out! You can buy it in all the major Italian online stores Amazon, Ibs, Feltrinelli, Rizzoli, you name it! You can also order it at your local bookshop! I’m beyond happy to finally hold in my hands the red-covered book and in these days I’m planning a few book presentations around Italy. I’ll keep you guys posted on that!

Buy book: Amazon – Ibs – Mondadori – Hoepli – Rizzoli – LaFeltrinelli – Ultima

More info on the book (in Italian)

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My interview with Xiaoyu Weng – director of Asia Programs at the Kadist Art Foundation in San Francisco and independent curator – has just been published on the Italian magazine Art a Part of Cult(ure) with the title “There is no such a thing as globalization in the art world”. In the interview we discuss exoticism in art, the role of the curator in bridging cultures and Xiaoyu’s approach to Asian art.

Here’s the link to the interview (in Italian)

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“Arte Contemporanea in Indonesia” finally makes his debut. During the event “Indonesia Update 2015” at the Embassy of Indonesia in Rome I introduced my book to the press. It was great to sign the copies and have a chat with the journalists – for once I was on the other side of the microphone! What came as a nice surprise was a plaque of merit from the Ambassador August Parengkuan, an honour I shared with Vanni Puccioni, who directed a project for reconstruction after the 2004 tsunami in the Indonesian island of Nias.

In a couple of weeks the book will be finally distributed to the public – I can’t wait! In the meantime, here’s a couple of pictures from the presentation!

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Here’s my first published piece of two thousand and fifteen! Is there a more wonderful way to kick off the new year than an interview with curator Roberto D’Onorio and his project at Rialto Sant’Ambrogio in Rome?

Roberto is not just one of the most articulated and sensitive curators I know, he’s also a dear friend. This interview is already known in the sketchiest Roman art circles as the “notorious Naples interview” and it has been a lot of fun to do. It has been published by the Italian web magazine Art a Part of Cult(ure) with the title “L’immaginazione per reinventare la felicità” namely “The imagination to reinvent happiness”.

If you haven’t been to the Rialto Sant’Ambrogio yet, you totally should. It’s straight-up amazing! And now for the article:

Here’s the link to the interview (in Italian)

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Some time ago a friend of mine – Bietolone we will call him – told me that he was waiting at the clinic of venereal diseases in London (a banal candida, he quickly added). In the waiting room a tall slim bombshell from Russia struck up a conversation. She said she was sick of London and she wanted to move elsewhere. Like, in that very moment. She explained she was a sculptor, and England was no place to live for an artist anymore. When he heard that Bietolone gulped. He notoriously had a soft spot for artists. He would have already asked her out if only they wouldn’t have met at the clinic of venereal diseases.

She proclaimed that the future for the arts was in Asia, and she had already picked a city to live: Singapore. She threw her blonde hair behind her shoulders and asked Bietolone in a heavily accented English: “Do you want to come with me?”
“Let me think about it” he replied seriously.
She scribbled her number on a piece of paper, gave it to him and disappeared in the stairwell before even getting her diagnosis.

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Twenty-fourteen has been a year of cementing for me. I recovered for my crazy mindset according to which I should have pick a new country to live in every year. These last twelve months have been much quieter, with small scattered events versus the glaring adventures in Indonesia or Australia of the past few years. But after you do your research, there is also the part where the research comes into being, and that’s what happened in 2014. This year was meant to see the harvest.

I’ve been writing for magazines since 2008, and for English magazines since 2012, but this year I feel I took it to a new level, increasing the number of articles published and types of magazines I’m freelancing for. This year I’ve published twenty-one articles in total, five in Italian and sixteen in English, which is a great achievement for me, considering that I have split my time also with other projects. I’m happy to have started a steady collaboration with Trouble Magazine, who is publishing the English version of all my interviews from my Indonesian and Australian reportages.

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