The Doublefold Dream of Art

2RC between Artist and the Artificer
CAFA Central Academy of Fine Arts

Beijing - 2009

The Printshop XNUMXRC in Rome begins a collaboration with the Central Academy of Beijing. After three years of preparation, a large chalcographic press, designed by Valter Rossi in XNUMX, leaves for China. The XNUMXRC donation represents the intention to continue its technical research in the East, where graphics are understood as an art in itself. The press will be placed in the new engraving department of the Academy, specially designed for large dimensions, and will be inaugurated with an official act of the Embassy of Italy in Beijing, in the person of Ambassador Riccardo Sessa, in conjunction with the opening of the retrospective exhibition “Doppio Sogno dell'arte. XNUMXRC - between artist and craftsman ", created in collaboration with the Italian Cultural Institute in Beijing and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which will open on January XNUMX in the new museum, inaugurated on September XNUMX and designed by Architect Arata Isozaki for the 'Beijing Central Academy of Fine Arts.

The collaboration between 2RC and CAFA will make it possible to invite world-famous artists, to continue research in the field of engraving with the same international and experimental spirit that has always characterized the Roman printing house since its foundation in 1959.

Min. plen. Gherardo LaFrancesca
Director General for Cultural Promotion and Cooperation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs

I am particularly pleased that in the course of its international process the exhibition Double Dream of Art arrives in China. 2RC - Between artist and craftsman, which testifies to the long activity of graphic production of one of the major Italian and international art print shops.

Artists of the first magnitude, both Italian and foreign, have worked over the years with the 2RC, triggering a lively and virtuous relationship between great art and great craftsmanship and ideally continuing, thus, that centuries-old relationship that from the Renaissance onwards has allowed the birth of very high masterpieces.

The exhibition, curated with authoritative expertise by Prof. Achille Bonito Oliva, retraces this extraordinary experience bringing it to the attention of an audience that we hope is very large.

The exhibition, the happy result of the collaboration between the Embassy of Italy in Beijing, the local Italian Cultural Institute and the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing chaired by Prof. Tan Ping, enhances a very particular aspect of the artistic production of our Country, thus enriching the already vast panorama of common cultural creations between Chinese and Italians.

It is my hope that this exhibition, with its red thread that runs through the history of Italian and world art from the 60s to today, will continue its path in other locations in the area, with a view to those principles of circulation and good administration that have long represented the objectives of our cultural network.