Devices of wonder. Magic lanterns and painted film, four centuries of cinema

Exhibit extended until January 9, 2011

Produced by La Venaria Reale, the National Museum of Cinema and the Cinémathèque française

Info: www.lemacchinedellameraviglia.it

An unforgettable pictorial tale of magic lanterns and their ties with cinema and avant-garde art. Alongside glass slides from 1700 and 1800, films by film-makers who paid tribute to the ancestor of the film camera are presented, as well as the works and installations of leading contemporary artists such as Anthony McCall, Ugo Nespolo and Bill Viola, artists who have been inspired by the form or who evoke the images it created.

The exhibition offers us the chance to admire the most beautiful collections of magic lantern glass slides in the world, donated by the National Museum of Cinema in Turin, the Cinémathèque Française in Paris and other important collections and institutions. For over three centuries, every possible subject was illuminated by magic lanterns, the marvellous optical instruments first invented in 1659 by the Dutch astronomer Christiaan Huygens, who made it possible – for the first time in the history of Man – to project still and moving images onto a screen.

Magic lanterns frightened, amazed and entertained, but at the same time were also powerful tools for educating and promoting. Their illuminated projections influenced the first film-makers in the history of cinema (the Lumière brothers, Georges Méliès, Ferdinand Zecca and Segundo de Chomón), and captivated classic authors (such as François Truffaut, Ingmar Bergman and Federico Fellini) and are born again in the painted frames of experimental film from the past and present (Len Lye, Norman McLaren, Stan Brakhage, Luigi Veronesi, Cioni Carpi and others).

The exhibition is divided into ten themed sections. The first section is devoted to the Bracci Testasecca tradition of magic lanterns: this spectacle has continued unchanged from the second half of the nineteenth century up until today and has survived the advent of cinema, television and electronic animation intact.

After its successful debut in Paris, the exhibition has come to the prestigious location of the Reggia di Venaria, expanded and modified for the Italian general public and supported by several associated events and activities, including a festival of magic lantern performances made by the most famous “lanternists”, a cycle of screenings and workshops organised by the National Museum of Cinema and the University of Turin’s DAMS college for the performing arts on avant-garde and experimental cinema, a tribute to contemporary Italian animation, with particular emphasis on the technique of painting directly onto film.

WHERE
Sale delle Arti nei Piani Alti della Reggia di Venaria (Torino)

WHEN
From July 22, 2010 to January 9, 2011

OPENING TIMES
Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday: h. 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Saturday: 9 a.m. - 9.30 p.m.
Sunday and Holidays: 9 a.m. - 8 p.m.
Monday: closed (except Holidays - opening times 9 a.m. – 8 p.m.)

From August 4 to Semptember 5, 2010:
Monday: closed (except Holidays and August 16, 2010 - opening times 9 a.m. – 8 p.m.)
Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday: h. 9 a.m. – 6 p.m.
Saturday: 9 a.m. - 9.30 p.m.
Sunday: 9 a.m. – 8 p.m.

Last admission: 1 hour before closing time

TICKETS
Tickets to the exhibition also provide access to the Gardens
Tickets may be purchased:
- at the Venaria Reale Ticket Offices. Main Ticket Office: via Mensa 34 - Venaria Reale (Old Town Centre near the Reggia); Carlo Emanuele II Ticket Office (Garden House): viale Carlo Emanuele II - Venaria Reale (access lane to the Park of La Mandria); Juvarra Ticket Office: entrance from via Don Sapino – tel. +39 011 4992333
- at the Infopiemonte Information Office in piazza Castello 165 in Turin
- online at www.lavenariareale.it
- online at www.ticketone.it

Tickets may be booked by phone: +39 011 4992333

Full price: € 8,00
Reduced price: € 5,00 (over 65, under 18)
Groups: € 5,00 (max 25, min. 12 people)
Schools: € 3,00 (min. 15 students and 1 teacher. Free entrance 2 teachers per class and support teachers)
Free admission: children under 12 years (with an adult)

Combined tickets exhibition + Reggia and Gardens (with separate tickets)
Full price: € 17,00
Reduced price: € 13,00 (over 65, under 18)
Groups: € 13,00 (max 25, min. 12 people)
Schools: € 8,00 (min. 15 students and 1 teacher)
Free admission: children under 12 years (with an adult)
For other facilities see the Reggia
Free admission for Museum Card and Torino+Piemonte Card holders

Showing the ticket for the exhibition Devices of wonder:
Reduced admission to The National Cinema Museum of Turin and the combined ticket Museum + Panoramic Lift;
Showing the ticket for The National Cinema Museum of Turin:
Reduced admission to the exhibition Devices of wonder

SUMMER PROMOTION
Until Semptember 5, 2010
Exhibit Gesù + Exhibit Devices of wonder + Reggia + Gardens € 18,00 (full price) and € 13,00 (reduced price)



GUIDED TOURS

Groups
Guided tours (about 1h. and 30’) for groups in Italian, English, French and German: € 60,00 per group
Scheduled guided tours (about 1h. and 30’) (Saturday, Sunday and Holidays): € 6,00 per person
Radiopass required for guided tours of external groups: € 10,00 per group

Schools
Guided tours to the exhibition (1h): € 40,00 per class
Schools laboratories (1h): € 40,00 per class
Schools laboratories (1h and 30’): € 60,00 per class

Free of charge 2 teachers per class and support teacherso

Summer centres (from July 22 to Semptember 10)
Guided tours to the exhibition (1h): € 20,00 per group
Educational experience (1h): free of charge

Free of charge 2 teachers per class and support teachers

Reservations for groups
tel.: +39 011 4992333 – e-mail: prenotazioni@lavenariareale.it
Groups max 25, min. 12 people
Reservations with advanced payment within 7 after the date of the reservation
Duration of the tour approximately 1h and 30’

Reservations school groups
tel.: +39 011 4992355 – www.lavenariareale.it
e-mail: prenotazioneservizieducativi@lavenariareale.it
max 25, min. 15 students accompanied by 2 teachers

CATALOGUE AND DVD

Catalogue Lanterna magica e film dipinto, 400 anni di cinema, curated by Laurent Mannoni and Donata Pesenti Campagnoni, edition Il Castoro: reduced price € 34,00.

DVD Prima del cinema. Le meravigliose immagini della lanterna magica, film by Davide Ferrario, with Giorgio Pasotti: € 9,90.

HOW TO GET HERE
Venaria is located around 10 Km from the centre of Turin and it can be reached::

Shuttle bus GTT “Venaria Express”
Bus GTT: lines 72 and 11
Train GTT: railway line Torino Dora-Ceres (Venaria stop, viale Roma)
Green line GTT: +39 800 019152 - www.comune.torino.it/gtt

Car: Turin Northern Ring Road (Tangenziale Nord), exit: Venaria (La Venaria Reale - Reggia e Giardini) or Savonera/Venaria (La Venaria Reale - Scuderie Juvarriane)

Plane: “Sandro Pertini” International Airport at Caselle Torinese, From the airport take the Expressway to Turin or the train (Turin - Ceres railway line) (Flight Information: tel. +39 011 5676361 – www.aeroportoditorino.it)

The main parking areas near the Venaria Reale complex are:
- Parking area in viale Carlo Emanuele II - CARLO EMANUELE II PARKING LOT (this is a private road leading to the Reggia, recommended for coaches)
- Parking area in via Don Sapino - JUVARRA PARKING LOT (Turin Northern Ring Road / Tangenziale Nord, exit Savonera/Venaria (La Venaria Reale - Scuderie Juvarriane)

SHOWS

July 31, 2010, 9.30 p.m.
Cappella di Sant’Uberto, Reggia di Venaria
Magic lanterns & phantasmagoria: show by the Cinémathèque française
Laurent Mannoni presents still and animated glass slides from the collections of the Cinémathèque française. These glass slides will enable the audience to travel the world over, experience the adventures of Robinson Crusoe and watch a phantasmagoria show.
For more details: www.lavenariareale.it - Tel: +39 011 4992333

September 15, 2010, 9 p.m.
Cinema Massimo, Screen 3
Magic lanterns: the great art of light and shadow
Laura Minici Zotti, the director of Padova’s Museo del Precinema, presents the most beautiful glass slides from the Minici Zotti Collection. When the hall lights go off, the audience will be transported back in time to an evening 200 years ago: images of the Grand Tour, a tale of the time, “living projections” and the mythological subjects that amazed the first audiences and continue to move us today.
Free admission
For more details: +39 011 8138516

September 20, 2010, 6 p.m. and 10 p.m.
Mito-Settembre Musica, Cavallerizza Reale-Maneggio
The discovery of the slow. A painted film directed by Marco Ponti
The glass slides of a magic lantern, provided by the National Museum of Cinema, and a soundtrack specially written and performed live by an internationally renowned quartet of musicians take on new life in a show where antique light projections charm even the most worldly viewer of today.
For more details: tel. +39 011 4424787
settembre.musica@comune.torino.it

October 13, 2010, 2.30 p.m.
Cinema Massimo, Screen 3
Tales from the magic lantern
A magic lantern show created in partnership with the Fondazione Carlo Molo – Laboratorio Afasia. The performance is the result of an art therapy approach that has made the most of the magic lantern’s illustrative powers.
For more details: +39 011 8138536
didattica@museocinema.it


WORKSHOPS AND FILMS

Planned to coincide with the great exhibition at Venaria Reale, the National Museum of Cinema and the University of Turin’s DAMS college for the performing arts offer a series of reflections, in-depth studies and visions on the avantgarde and experimental cinema of yesterday and today. On the 11th, 12th and 13th of October, DAMS will be hosting a series of workshops, organised by Giulia Carluccio, Giaime Alonge, Alessandro Amaducci and Franco Prono, with respected scholars and specialists in the sector who will discuss three themes: the historic period of avantgarde production, American underground productions and finally the contribution of Italian artists to this genre. The afternoon and evening will feature screenings, meetings and performances at Cinema Massimo that are connected to the three themes discussed in the workshops.


September 29, 2010, h. 20.30, Cinema Massimo
Waiting the meetings in October, the Cinema Massimo (Sala 3) hosts an evening on contemporary Italian animated film, with particular emphasis on the technique of painting on film. The short films of Vincenzo Gioanola, Blu and Donato Sansone are screened in the presence of the authors. In addition to this, Andrea Martignoni and Saul Saguatti present the première of the documentary Pellicole da camera.

Giaime Alonge and Alessandro Amaducci from the University of Turin chair the events.

Free entrance.

October 11, 2010, Cinema Massimo
“The historic avant-garde”

h. 16.30 Presentation of the most renowned work of the historic avant-garde.

h. 20.30 The artist Paolo Gioli meets the public and talks with Sergio Toffetti and Anna Maria Licciardello, the editors of the book and DVD Un cinema dell’impronta, produced for the National Film Archive.

October 12, 2010, Cinema Massimo
“American underground production”

h. 16.30 Presentation of many examples of Stan Brakhage and Kenneth Anger’s work.
h. 20.30 Presentation by Bruno Di Marino of the DVD box set Bill Viola Works, published by RaroVideo.

October 13, 2010, Cinema Massimo

“Italian artists”

The Fondazione Cineteca Italiana offers a programme on Luigi Veronesi and Cioni Carpi, whose restored work is preserved there.
h. 17.30 Presentation of Luigi Veronesi’s work.
h. 18.30 Presentation of Cioni Carpi’s work.

h. 21.00 Paint by Saul Saguatti. A live show that combines videocameras and hand painting with background music by Andrea Martignoni.