The Center for Italian Modern Art (Cima), an art museum and research center in the Soho neighbourhood of Manhattan, announced on Friday (14 June) that it would close its doors permanently on 22 June. Its current exhibition, Nanni Balestrini: Art as Political Action —One Thousand and One Voices—the first stateside retrospective of the Italian experimental visual artist and novelist—will be Cima’s last.
Founded in 2013 by Laura Mattioli, an Italian art historian, collector and curator, Cima was intended to promote both scholarly and public engagement with Modern and contemporary Italian art. In that time it mounted 13 exhibitions, many of which turned a spotlight on major figures in Italian modern art who had rarely been exhibited in North America. It hosted major exhibitions devoted to the Futurist artist Fortunato Depero, the Greek Italian painter Alberto Savinio (brother of Giorgio de Chirico), the revered still life painter Giorgio Morandi, the sculptors Medardo Rosso and Marino Marini, and more.
“This was not an easy decision,” Mattioli said in a statement. “At present, we are holding conversations with various cultural institutions to find the place that will best preserve Cima’s archival documentation, including the video archive of public events, and the online academic journal. It is our goal that these resources will continue to remain accessible to scholars and to the general public, free of charge.”
Cima also sponsored scholarly research, hosting 42 residential fellows and supporting ten travel fellows. CIMA helped these fellows produce a significant trove of articles, catalogues and books, furthering the institution’s goal of promoting Italian American intellectual exchange and scholarship.
“Meeting these fellows was a constant source of learning and inspiration for us, and we know that many of you enjoyed the opportunity to meet and converse with them during our tours, scholarly conferences and public events,” Mattioli said.
