Carla Lonzi's Archive

The Galleria Nazionale has recently acquired the Archivio Carla Lonzi

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Comunicazione e distribuzione, Oggetto 11 (1970 - gennaio 1981) by Lonzi CarlaLa Galleria Nazionale

It is the first time, after the death of Carla Lonzi, that one attempts the complex operation to gather, sort, safekeep and make the documentary heritage of the art critic and feminist philosopher, initiator of the policy and thought of sexual difference, available for studies.

Carla Lonzi is studied all over the world and recognised as the «Avant-garde of Italian philosophy of the twentieth century».

Consagra Pietro, Oggetto 31 (08 luglio 1964 - 28 aprile 1969) by Lonzi CarlaLa Galleria Nazionale

The Women Out of Joint festival was the occasion for the National Gallery of Modern and Contemporary Art to present to the public the recently acquired Archive of Carla Lonzi – Italian feminist, writer and art critic – which will make it possible to finally access prized documentary material whose value is internationally recognised for the history of art and gender theory.

Lena Battista, Oggetto 27 (1962 - 29 dicembre 1979) by Lonzi CarlaLa Galleria Nazionale

The Sorting and Inventorying

The sorting and inventorying of the Carla Lonzi Archive at the National Gallery of Modern and Contemporary Art in Rome began in January 2018 by the will of the Director Cristiana Collu and the son of Carla Lonzi, Battista Lena, the «Tito» of Taci, anzi parla (Carla Lonzi’s journal).

The material, owned by Battista Lena, had already been delivered for storage by the same owner who had kept it at his Umbrian home, in boxes and without a pre-established order.

Vai pure!, Oggetto 2 (1980 - 15 maggio 1981) by Lonzi CarlaLa Galleria Nazionale

A first check of the consistency and content was made by the philosopher Annarosa Buttarelli in collaboration with the head of the Bio-iconographic Archive of the National Gallery of Modern and Contemporary Art, Claudia Palma.

The material delivered also includes a bibliographic part.

The work of sorting and inventorying, carried out by Dr. Marta Cardillo, began precisely from the bibliographic part and it has thus been possible to catalogue and index 99 bibliographic units contained in the collection to date.

Destinazioni diverse, Oggetto 54 (07 settembre 1977 - 18 luglio 1980) by Lonzi CarlaLa Galleria Nazionale

The Archival Material

The archival material was then analysed. Battista Lena had received several documents from her mother from her aunt Marta Lonzi, who after Carla's death had done her utmost to safekeep and promote her sister, also thanks to the publishing house Rivolta femminile, still in business today.

Part of the preserved documentation can be traced back to the activities of Marta Lonzi and Rivolta’s companions also in the period following 1982, the year of Carla Lonzi's death.

It was therefore decided to temporarily divide the material into two large distinct sections, relating to the two sisters.

Appunti di studio, Oggetto 638 (07 febbraio 1952 - 06 giugno 1956) by Lonzi CarlaLa Galleria Nazionale

The documentation relating to Carla Lonzi chronologically begins from the testimonies concerning the first period of her life, and then continues, in a quantitatively different way, until the end of her life.

It was decided to deal with the correspondence last due to the peculiarity of this document type which, entering into the details of all types of relationships, assumes a basic knowledge tout court of the content of the papers.

Credits: Story

Text by Annarosa Buttarelli,Marta Cardillo, Claudia Palma. An excerpt from the WOOJ newspaper that was distributed during the Women Out of Joint festival.

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