Closing an extraordinary year for Aurora, the historic Turin fountain pen manufacturer, the finissage of the “Aurora ETERNA” exhibition, conceived by Officina della Scrittura on the occasion of the company’s first 100 years as a world ambassador of Made in Italy excellence, will be held on Jan. 31.
The event, at 7 p.m. in Officina della Scrittura, will also feature Gian Giacomo Della Porta, Régis Gonzalez and Leonardo Gaffo, among others, and some of the artists who contributed their works to the exhibition.
The exhibition compares the 100-year history of the famous company, within whose walls the Museo Officina della Scrittura has also stood since 2016, with the course of political, cultural, and artistic events in Italy and beyond from 1919 to 2019.
For each decade, a mischievous dialogue is established between two timelines-the world of Aurora and the aurora of the World-while an iconic pen shares space with artwork, design objects, and historical documents.
Ten iconic pens were chosen to represent the creativity of Manifattura Aurora: from the R.A.00 (Rientrante Aurora) a tiny ebonite fountain pen not even 6 centimeters long designed to be worn on the wrist by debutantes in the early 1920s, to the later R.A.3 Egizia of the 1930s laminated in gold with friezes reminiscent of ancient Egypt. From the Asterope that opens and closes with a single hand dedicated to the businessmen of the 1940s; to the Aurora 88, the extraordinary pen created with Marcello Nizzoli in ’47 and still in production. It could not miss the legendary Auretta, the result of the collaboration with Albe Steiner, a regular guest in students’ backpacks in the 1960s; nor the iconic Hastil and Thesi designed by Marco Zanuso in the 1970s and since then exhibited at Moma in New York. Finally, a tribute to more recent creations: Ipsilon, the pen with the unmistakable clasp made in collaboration with Giampiero Bodino; Optima, the actualization of a pen from the 1930s characterized by an original Greek on the ring; and finally a Giuseppe Verdi, the symbol of the maison’s most prestigious and most precious creations.
Many historical photographs and numerous special objects round out this rich collection, made possible through the collaboration of Italian cultural institutions and collectors: a portrait of Marilyn by Philippe Halsman discusses a model airplane signed by Carlo Mollino; Gae Aulenti’s Pipistrello illuminates Verner Panton’s Panton Chair; a Giorgio De Chirico lithograph meets a Sol LeWitt poster and a Joe Colombo object holder; Bruce Nauman’s paintings contemplate Bruno Munari’s Tempo libero…
The last decade – of 2019 – consists of letters dedicated to the museum, written naturally by hand with an Aurora pen by international artists and authors such as Emilia Azcárate, Paolo Babbiotti, Pascale Barret, Louise Bellamy, Leonardo Caffo, Lieven De Boeck, Hannah De Corte, Gian Giacomo Della Porta, Georges Didi-Huberman, Sébastien Fayard, Fred Forest, Michel François, Régis Gonzalez, Francesco Granieri, Ezio Gribaudo, Giorgio Griffa, Arturo Herrera, Emilio Isgrò, Pierre Jourde, Selçuk Mutlu, Giulio Paolini, Fabienne Radi, Stéphanie Roland, Rayyane Tabet, Agnès Thurnauer, and David Tremlett.
“ETERNAL AURORA” proposes, thus, a new – aesthetic – reading of these last hundred years, but also of the next hundred seen through art, design and history.
Credits
Curator: Cécile Angelini
Scientific Committee: Dario Disegni, President of MEIS – history of the Jewish community of Turin, Carlo Salone, University of Turin – development of the city of Turin, Ermanno Tedeschi – contemporary art, Paola Zanovello, University of Padua – archaeology and tourism
Promoters: Aurea Signa Cultural Association, Aurora Penne
Outfitting project: arch. Sergio Mazzoni, Cécile Angelini
Graphics: Vincenzo Pace and Elisa Pagin
Aurora Historical Archives: Valentina Lombardo
Project development: Giulia Deotto
Communication: Eleonora Martone
Sponsorships: Piedmont Region, Metropolitan City of Turin, City of Turin, District 6, Chamber of Commerce Industry, Handicrafts and Agriculture of Turin, Jewish Community, Department of Cultural Heritage – University of Padua.
Lenders: La Venaria Reale Conservation and Restoration Center, Casa Mollino, Automobile Museum of Turin, Studio Pepe, Noire Gallery, Girolamo Luxardo S.p.A.
Sponsor: Istituto Veneto di Scienze Lettere ed Arti di Venezia
Media Partners: Ansa, Art to Date