CISF

The Centro Internazionale di Studi sul Futurismo (CISF) has as its objective the promotion of awareness of Italian Futurism and of the relationship between Futurism and the artistic currents of international avant-garde art.
Thanks to the founding of the Centre, Mart is able to develop one of its original vocations. The museum was founded through the joining of the Museo Provinciale d'Arte (Provincial Art Museum) and the first Futurist museum in Italy – created by Fortunato Depero with the assistance of the Rovereto Municipality – with the later bequest of Futurist architect, Angiolo Mazzoni.
The idea for the Centre first emerged at the start of the 1980s as part of a project to revamp and restructure Rovereto’s museums by the Municipality.
Since then, Mart has launched the promotion of Depero’s work and of Futurism with it on a national and international scale; it has organised exhibitions of other exponents of the Futurist movement; it has acquired various documentary archives created by artists or witnesses of the movement; it has also added to its holdings with works by Carrà, Balla, Prampolini, Severini, Crali and other artists.
Within this context, it is particularly worth noting some important initiatives realised by the Centre, including the production of the Dictionary of Futurism in 2001 in which about 100 Italian and other scholars participated, and the international "Futurismo. Dall'avanguardia alla memoria" congress, organised in 2003 in collaboration with the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library of Yale University, which holds the Marinetti archive. These have constituted important opportunities for comparison and the exploration of new avenues for international studies and research and projects associated with the Futurist archives.

Activities - Research programme

In line with its articles of association, the Centro internazionale studi sul futurismo (CISF) works in various fields.

1) Holdings
The enlargement and safeguarding of the museum’s holdings are top-priority objectives for the Centre, which intends increasing its collections of books and documentary material. The digital reproduction of documents facilitates the correct conservation of the originals.


2) Studies and research
Study and research projects administered directly by Mart are implemented for the full exploitation of the collections linked to Futurism, and to equip the Centre with comprehensive documentation on the history of the movement. The research projects are of varying duration. Current or concluded scholarships have had and have as their aim the ordering and documenting of Mart’s Futurist archives, the integration and updating of the Futurist bibliography (2005).

3) Co-operative and educational relationships

In the research activity, the first contacts of the Centre are with universities, foundations, archives and libraries. The international dimension arising from the link between Futurism and the avant-garde movements should be stressed, as this makes it possible to plan European projects. Mart is already in touch with American centres and institutes (Beinecke Library, Yale University, The Getty Research Institute in Los Angeles), which collect material, documents and works associated with Futurism. The importance of the Centre from an educational point of view should also be noted.

The Centre promotes and sets up workshops and itineraries around themes and documents associated with Futurism, both in collaboration with the Educational Department and through contacts with other institutions, including universities.

4) Computerised system

The creation of a computerised system integrated with that of the Museum but at the same time endowed with an autonomy of its own is an indispensable tool for spreading information, broadening contacts and exchanges and reaching the largest number of users. From 2007, the "Futurismoonline" documentation space will be on-line: updates and debates can be reached from our Community, in which it will be possible to gain direct access to:

- information drawn from the Museum’s database, regarding collections, archives and library;
- texts, articles, publications in electronic format, digitalised documents, images, etc.;
- access points to other databases;
- links to a selection of institutions and museums active in the field of research into Futurism.

5) Publishing

The publishing sector is of strategic importance to the life of the Centre, and largely constitutes the natural outlet for internal and external research work, often accompanied by other events such as exhibitions and congresses.
The Centre also takes care of the publication of unpublished Futurist works, collections of writings, artists’ dossiers, inventories of its own holdings, etc.

6) Events

The Centre is involved in the organisation of events of significant importance (conferences, study days, congresses) and in the planning of exhibitions.
Among the events held on site have been the International congress of Futurist archives held in March 2003. The aim of the Congress was to promote awareness of the avant-garde movement, stimulating collaborative relationships between institutions and private individuals with archives of Futurist artists.
The Congress touched upon various disciplines, from the history of art to archival disciplines, and focused on the state of research thanks to the contribution of numerous celebrated studies, including the analysis of: the relationship between archives and art collections; acquisitions policies, the organisation and internal administration of archives; relations with users (access, regulations, legislation); communications and networks (information technology and Internet). Vincent Giroud, curator of the archives of the Beinecke Library, Yale University was involved in the planning and organisational phase; the Congress enjoyed the presence of scholars such as Jeffrey Schnapp and Paolo Valesio, and the intervention of such institutions as the Yale University Art Gallery, the New York MoMA, the Archivio Centrale dello Stato in Rome, the Getty Research Institute, theFondazione Primo Conti di Fiesole (FI) and many universities, libraries, museums and archives with holdings of Futurist material.

Mart’s holdings

There are 35,000 cards covering the archive’s holdings, and 7,000 – all supplied with im-ages – covering the paintings, sculptures, drawings, installations and every other work of art to be found in the museum’s collections; furthermore, there are 30,000 cards for the books in the rich art library.

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Casa d'Arte Futurista Depero