Writing and sculpture are both the result of the hand’s movement in space. In writing, gestures deposit marks on a page, while in sculpture they modify a material’s way of inhabiting space. When sculptors write about themselves and can eloquently document and discuss their practice, their words are a precious guide to understanding their artworks, allowing us to move beyond the interpretations of art historians and draw from the primary source of creative thought.
A series of lectures organized by Giovanna Brambilla analyzes the writings of Barbara Hepworth, Alberto Giacometti, and Alexander Calder—three key figures of twentieth-century sculpture fascinated by volume, verticality, and lightness—creating a dialogue across time with the course’s participants.
“I love making sculptures that have the quality of both stone and sky.”
The first lecture explores the complex connection between Barbara Hepworth’s writings and her revolutionary sculpture, highlighting a creative process born of the tension between the choice of materials and the defining of forms.
“The more I work, the more I see differently. The more I attempt to create, the more I see that it is impossible.”
The second lecture highlights the deep and unsettling connection between the penetrating human frailty portrayed in Alberto Giacometti’s filiform sculptures and the profound existential reflections expressed in his writing.
"When everything goes right a mobile is a piece of poetry that dances with the joy of life and surprises."
The third lecture sees Giovanna Brambilla explore the vibrant connection between the joyful dynamism and seeming lightness of Alexander Calder’s mobile sculptures and his reflections merging childish stupor and an expert understanding of space and movement.
How to join:
Giovanna Brambilla is an art historian and an expert in cultural heritage education and mediation. Her main focus is the relationship between museums and the public, particularly accessibility and inclusion. After graduating from university, she worked for a year as a volunteer researcher at the British Museum, London, before completing postgraduate courses in General and Museum Education at Roma Tre University, in Communication and Intercultural Mediation at the University of Bergamo, in Art History at the University of Milan (with a scholarship), and in Communication in School Settings at the University of Siena. From 1996 to 2022, she was the head of the Education Department at GAMeC, the Galleria d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea, Bergamo. She is currently self-employed and works with the Direzione regionale Musei Lombardia as the Head of Local Projects and Audience Development. She is also a member of the Knowledge Community of the Cultural Welfare Center, Turin, focusing on museums, hospitality, and wellbeing. Her most recent publications include, ldiqua. Immagini per chi resta (2023), Mettere al mondo il mondo: Immagini per una rinascita (2021), and Inferni: Parole e immagini di un’umanità al confine (2020).