The ballad of forgotten places, a work by Botto & Bruno born from the winning project of the third edition of the Italian Council 2018 competition and promoted by the Fondazione Merz, joins the collections of the Galleria Sabauda – Musei Reali di Torino.

The installation, housed in the Sala degli Stucchi in the Manica Nuova, a space characterised by a neo-Baroque decorative exuberance, suggests a contemporary look and new reflections on the theme of memory and the safeguarding of traces of time.

The strong style that historicises the room, its outlook on the problematic stratification of buildings ranging from Roman remains to structures of the 1970s, passing through rare medieval remains and testimonies of the Baroque period, contextualise the work in a place of transit, in a juxtaposition of narratives completely consistent with the work of the Turinese artists. The work has a real migratory nature: it brings together the traces and signs of times and cultures that have shaped and built it. In Botto & Bruno’s vision, “marginal places need to be protected and cared for, and above all they need people to take action to preserve their memory”.

A project winner of the 3rd edition of Italian Council (2018), a competition conceived by the Directorate-General for Contemporary Creativity– an organism of the Italian Ministry for Cultural Heritage and Activities, to promote Italian contemporary art in the world.