The resident artists of Numeroventi Ksenia Tokmakova and Marinika Sadgyan have been invited to Palazzo Galli Tassi in Florence to showcase a series of works that connects the past and the present by creating a spatial installation of fragments and objects. Inside this place of cultural exchange the viewer is invited to pause for a moment and experience immediate intimacy inspired by the tensile structure on show, a tribute to the “100 herbs syrup” invention by the former owner of the palazzo, Girolamo Pagliano. Paper Memories is a tactile installation that reveals scenes of the devastating flood in Florence, dated back to November 1966, which dramatically hit The National Central Library, causing the loss of many texts. The art residency Numeroventi introduced the two women artists to the currently ongoing process of restoring at the Conservation center. After having done research in collaboration with the Conservation center, Ksenia and Marinika made a study of archival photographs in which they would recreate the sensation of devastation and ruin from the catastrophe. The title of the show, fragments, suggests the habitants’ desperate attempt to save the literary material by creating improvised structures to dry the pages of the flooded books. The scene has been recreated through visual suggestions using a combination of techniques of contemporary art and journalism. The exhibition space co-exists with the objects, and reveals a strong connection to the multidisciplinary ability of the artists. There is a strong sensibility present as to honor the space and the trauma it carries embedded within its walls and history.















