The Italian Cultural Institute of Madrid is pleased to present Materia Sonora, the first exhibition dedicated to contemporary Italian sound art to be held outside Italy. The exhibition will run from 9 March to 27 April on the occasion of ARCOmadrid 2024. Materia Sonora brings together striking installations and site-specific works created by 10 Italian artists active in the last fifteen years. The exhibition, curated by the SONRO collective, is produced by the Italian Cultural Institute of Madrid with the support of the Italian Embassy in Spain.
Born as an experimental practice – whose roots can be traced back to the Futurist avant-garde – sound art is increasingly establishing itself as a contemporary form of artistic expression due to its extraordinary vitality, constant innovation and integration with new technologies, as well as for the “enveloping” dimension of sound, which engulfs the spectator in a continuous flow, provoking new sensory experiences.
Materia Sonora explores this form of expression through the work of Italian artists active over the last fifteen years and belonging to different generations. The exhibition combines the work of artists from historic galleries with that of independent artists. The artists in the exhibition share a common trait: the use of sound to sculpt space. The exhibition combines impressive installations with site-specific works, specifically designed to dialogue with the 17th-century spaces of the Italian Cultural Institute of Madrid.
Materia Sonora is conceived as a journey through the sounds that evoke different realities and dimensions: breaths, wails, words, screams and whistles, as well as the waves of the sea and the crackling of rain. In this journey, featuring a surprise visit to the public outdoor space in the historic centre of Madrid, visitors are often invited to actively participate, to “activate” the work of art and become part of it.
