One of the most singular figures in Italian post-World War II art, ‘an artist who moves in a vacuum’ as Germano Celant defined him, Prini seems to elude, perhaps intentionally, any possible definition. Starting with over forty works from 1966 to 2016, the core of the first retrospective since his death, held at the Fondazione Merz from 28 October 2019 to 9 February 2020, this volume activates a critical and historical reflection on the experience of one of the most interesting and discussed representatives of Arte Povera. A transgressive position, that of Prini, or if we want orthodox towards artistic practice and the codes of the art system that teaches the possibility of grasping the value of contradiction and doubt. A passage of art and the artist into life, or rather as he himself defined ‘not action but biological extension of the self’, into contemporaneity that distinguishes a work of extreme topicality and ready for confrontation with the new generations.

The book, edited by Beatrice Merz, includes an unpublished text by Luca Lo Pinto, a historical and never published dialogue between the artist and Hans Ulrich Obrist, and a rich anthology with texts by Adachiara Zevi, Germano Celant and Lorenzo Benedetti. The book benefits from a rich iconographic apparatus, with over 150 images of works and documents.

Emilio Prini (Stresa, 1943 - Rome, 2016) was a leading figure in Arte Povera, one of the most influential and radical recent art movements, strongly connected to the political and social context of the second half of the 20th century.

The book Arte contemporanea: Scusi, non capisco ('Contemporary Art: Sorry, I Don't Understand') originates from a famous format of the Merz Foundation in Turin, a series of events during which the public was led to listen to and interact with exceptional guests from different artistic fields. The project, based on an idea by Maria Centonze, aimed to meet the general public's need for a better understanding of the languages and thinking behind contemporary works of art.
Each one of us, if stripped of the many prejudices that hinder openness to any world other than our own, can and must try to understand, even in the way of art.
Costantino D'Orazio, art curator, museum director and cultural popularizer, takes readers on a journey through the ‘Scusi, non capisco’ - among others - of Serena Dandini, Andrea Zalone, Lucia Goracci, Ascanio Celestini and Maria Grazia Cucinotta.

Costantino D'Orazio (Rome, 1974), art historian, is the director of the National Museums of Perugia and the Regional Directorate of National Museums of Umbria. He worked at the Sovrintendenza Capitolina ai Beni Culturali as resident curator at the MACRO in Rome from 2014 to 2018; from 2008 to 2012 he was curator of contemporary art exhibitions at the National Museum of Villa Pisani in Stra. Recently, he curated the initiative 5 minutes with Van Gogh, the exhibition Artemisia Gentileschi. Coraggio e Passione at Palazzo Ducale in Genoa and Amarsi. Love in Art from Guido Reni to Banksy at the Fondazione Cassa di Rispamio di Terni. Since 2014, he has hosted the column AR Frammenti d'Arte on Rainews24 and is the art expert for Unomattina in famiglia and Linea Verde on Rai1, Geo and TG3 Linea Notte on Rai3. He is the author and host of the programmes Wikiradio and Vite che sono la tua on Radio3, as well as collaborating with the programme Radio3 Suite. From 2014 to 2019 he hosted the cultural popularisation programme Bella davvero and in 2021 the programme Due cose on Radio2. His latest publication as an author is Art Detectives. 30 cases to become real experts (Piemme, 2024).

The second book in the Ultralibri series, Stanze in a certain way narrates eight years in the creative evolution of the duo of artists and directors Gianluca and Massimiliano De Serio, who recently presented SPACCAPIETRE, the only Italian title in competition in Venice Days at the Venice Film Festival 2020.

The book offers an experience full of theatrical, poetic and cinematographic projects dedicated to the Somali lands and to the critique of Italy’s colonial past, linking old and new subjugations. The volume includes, among others, a contribution by Andrea Del Boca and historical essays by Luca Ciabarri and Gabriele Proglio.

Gianluca and Massimiliano De Serio were born in Turin in 1978. They have worked together since 1999 as visual artists, screenwriters and film directors. Over the years they have directed short films, documentaries and produced installations that have participated in the most important national and international film festivals and various exhibitions.

The book that opens the new Ultralibri series – volumes that are on the borderline between essay, catalogue and artist’s book, going beyond the notion of book itself – represents the sequel to the exhibition of the young Lebanese artist and activist, Zena el Khalil, held in Beirut in 2017. The exhibition, hosted in the emblematic Beit Beirut on the green line in the city centre, expanded to include a large number of people and communities in 40 days of workshops and meetings, projecting the artist’s work onto the entire city, creating an open, inclusive and circular proposal starting from a symbolic place of the Lebanese civil war. The book not only collects that experience but, in the spirit of the artist, widens the discourse and the possible proposals for the care of a city and an entire people, towards a forty-first day. The book contains texts by the artist and Healing Lebanon, a collective author, a true community that is the result of experiences and dialogue.

Zena el Khalil, born in London in 1976, lives in Beirut. A visual artist, writer, performer, cultural activist and yoga instructor, she works with themes focused on creating a culture of peace and reconciliation. www.zenaelkhalil.com