“Arriving at each new city, the traveler finds again a past of his that he did not know he had: the foreignness of what you no longer are or no longer possess lies in wait for you in foreign, unpossessed places.” – Italo Calvino, Invisible Cities 

Conceptually inspierd by Italo Calvino‘s novel Invisible Cities, DAMA is an independ art project launched in Turin last week during Artissima Art Fair. The collective art exhibition took place in an historical building in the center of Turin, the Palazzo Saluzzo Paesana, with the aim to revamp the old part of the town by breathing new air into its most iconic architectures. DAMA represented an intimate and carefully curated alternative to nowadays impersonal art fairs, where everything is kept bare bones in order to maximalize sales. Each featured gallery realized a bespoke showcase overseen by DAMA curatorial team, to establish a dialogue with the surrounding spaces within an atmosphere similar to the one of 18th century French art salons. Born from an idea of gallerist Giorgio Galotti and curator Domenico De Chirico, the event featured 10 national and international up-and-coming galleries that were allowed to present no more than two artists each to avoid the overwhelming feeling typical of major art fairs. Our absolute highlights were Turin-based Neochrome Gallery presenting a solo show of Stephanie Hier,  London-based Maximillian William showcasing the works of Magda Supinska, and the perfomances programme curated by Lorenzo Balbi from Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, which featured a dreamy performance by young artist Benni Bosetto among others.