.jpg "Lights On installation at night, in Pizza della Libertà Bergamo.")
.jpg "Lights On installation at night, in Pizza Libertà Bergamo.")
Lights On installation at night, in Pizza della Libertà Bergamo.
We love this (unfortunately) temporary installation in Piazza della Libertà of Bergamo. Why? This piazza and surrounding buildings, especially the Palazzo della Libertà and its stark and imposing front, have always left us kind of cold. Add to that, a fountain in the middle of the piazza that is so large that you can’t even see into it. You must look up. Unapproachable. Not to the scale of humans. Who designed this?
The Palazzo della Libertà was completed in 1940 and was the headquarters of the National Fascist Party. It was designed by Alziro Bergonzo (1906 – 1997), an Italian architect who worked in the style called Stile Littorio. (This style refers to an architectural language developed in Italy in the 1930s that featured many public buildings commissioned by the Fascist regime until its fall.)
So, I guess we are not big fans of this architectural style with its monumental scale, purposely not human-scale, and we would say slightly pretentious appearance. There are aspects of it that are pleasing but on the whole it's off-putting.
Enter this light installation Lights On Bergamo - Objects of Common Interest sponsored by the Confindustria Bergamo for 2023’s Cultural Capital Celebration in which Brescia and Bergamo are the hosts. The installation softens the piazza. Steps are added so you can climb up to the fountain. A series of light tubes softens the front of the palazzo. On the whole, everything is more approachable, more to human scale. We are not sure the Fascist Party or Bergonzo would agree, but we would love for this installation to stick around.
Reading the information about the exhibit that was presented on site, we saw a common pattern used in translating Italian to English. Here are the original (assuming Italian was source) and translated (English) descriptions with the part in bold that we take issue with.
In Italian, the phrase Bergamo dialoga is translated as “Bergamo dialogues with”. This translations sounds strange in English. What about “Bergamo interacts with” or “Bergamo engages with”? Yes, dialogue is technically correct as a verb, but who uses it commonly? Beyond that, we can’t tell you how many installation or exhibition descriptions we’ve seen where the "work of art” dialogues with “you” or it’s “surroundings”. Curators and writers use this wording when they can’t find anything concrete to say, or anything to say in plain English.
So, let’s put our money where our mouths are and give you our translation. Items in bold are our additions and deviate from official translation.
* Dynamic in the sense of attracting business not beauty. See AttrACT - Accordi per l’attrattività.
A little history
The Palazzo della Libertà was completed in 1940 and was the headquarters of the National Fascist Party. It was designed by Alziro Bergonzo (1906 – 1997), an Italian architect who worked in the style called Stile Littorio. (This style refers to an architectural language developed in Italy in the 1930s that featured many public buildings commissioned by the Fascist regime until its fall.)
So, I guess we are not big fans of this architectural style with its monumental scale, purposely not human-scale, and we would say slightly pretentious appearance. There are aspects of it that are pleasing but on the whole it's off-putting.
Enter this light installation Lights On Bergamo - Objects of Common Interest sponsored by the Confindustria Bergamo for 2023’s Cultural Capital Celebration in which Brescia and Bergamo are the hosts. The installation softens the piazza. Steps are added so you can climb up to the fountain. A series of light tubes softens the front of the palazzo. On the whole, everything is more approachable, more to human scale. We are not sure the Fascist Party or Bergonzo would agree, but we would love for this installation to stick around.
A translation nit
Reading the information about the exhibit that was presented on site, we saw a common pattern used in translating Italian to English. Here are the original (assuming Italian was source) and translated (English) descriptions with the part in bold that we take issue with.
Italian: Objects of Common Interest è stata invitata a proporre un'installazione artistica in occasione di Capitale della Cultura 2023 che vede Brescia e Bergamo assumere il ruolo di "città illuminata". La proposta mira ad integrare quattro temi chiave: città e natura, tesori nascosti, la città che inventa e la cultura come cura. L'obiettivo è quello di definire la visione di un territorio attrattivo e consapevole delle proprie potenzialità. Bergamo dialoga con la modernità, partendo dai suoi punti di forza — la radice manifatturiera e il forte senso di appartenenza - e li coniuga con i valori dell'innovazione e della sostenibilità economica, sociale e ambientale, grazie anche alla capacità evocativa dei linguaggi dell'arte e della cultura.
English: Objects of Common Interest were invited to propose an intervention for 2023's Cultural Capital which sees Brescia and Bergamo take the title of the 'illuminated city'. The proposal in response seeks to integrate four key themes: city and nature, hidden treasures, the city that invents and culture as a cure. The aim is to define a new vision for an attractive territory aware of its potential. Bergamo dialogues with modernity, starting from its strengths - manufacturing roots and sense of belonging - and combines them with the values of innovation and with economic, social and environmental sustainability, thanks also to the evocative capacity of art and culture as languages.
In Italian, the phrase Bergamo dialoga is translated as “Bergamo dialogues with”. This translations sounds strange in English. What about “Bergamo interacts with” or “Bergamo engages with”? Yes, dialogue is technically correct as a verb, but who uses it commonly? Beyond that, we can’t tell you how many installation or exhibition descriptions we’ve seen where the "work of art” dialogues with “you” or it’s “surroundings”. Curators and writers use this wording when they can’t find anything concrete to say, or anything to say in plain English.
So, let’s put our money where our mouths are and give you our translation. Items in bold are our additions and deviate from official translation.
English (our translation): The studio Objects of Common Interest was invited to present an installation for Italy’s Capital of Culture 2023 where Brescia and Bergamo take on the role of “illuminated city”. The resulting work integrates four key themes: city and nature, hidden treasures, a city that invents, and culture as a cure. The aim is to define a new vision for an economically dynamic region aware of its potential. Bergamo embraces the future, building on its strengths – its manufacturing roots and a sense of community – combining them with innovation and economic, social, and environmental sustainability thanks to the evocative power of the language of art and culture.
* Dynamic in the sense of attracting business not beauty. See AttrACT - Accordi per l’attrattività.
Photos
The description of the Lights On installation in Italian and English.
.jpg "Under the portico of Palazzo della Libertà in Bergamo, with moon.")
.jpg "Lights On installation at night.")
Left: Under the portico of Palazzo della Libertà in Bergamo, with moon. Right: Lights On installation at night.
Left: The Piazza della Libertà on a gray day in Bergamo, Italy - with Chiesa di San Marco belltower visible. Right: The unforgiving geometry of the Piazza della Libertà broken just a little by the Lights On installation.
.jpg "The Light On installation winding light tubes.")
The Light On installation winding light tubes.
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