The Hermann Nitsch Museum and the former Sava wool mill in Naples are classical examples of regenerated Industrial Archaeology. This was the theme of the lecture delivered by art historian Rossella Monaco at the Italian Cultural Institute in Hamburg within the framework of the ‘Industrial Archaeology/Urban Regeneration’ cycle.
Indeed, since the beginning of the 1990s, the reuse of archaeological industrial facilities as spaces for the exhibition of contemporary art also started to become widespread in Italy. Monographic and generalist museums, temporary or permanent spaces hosting exhibitions and happenings, have tapped the patent vocation of decommissioned industrial plants to host visual arts. Rossella Monaco explored the reasons for such a fruitful combination, by presenting two cases: the former Bellini power plant, which now hosts the Hermann Nitsch Museum, Archive and Laboratory for Contemporary Arts, dedicated to the work of the Austrian artist considered to be one of the topmost representatives of Viennese Actionism, and the former Sava wool mill, now partially renovated by artists and associations.
