Kolektoři 1 – Alberto Di Stefano

• COLLECTORS00:00:13.511
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• Alberto Di Stefano interviewed by Tereza Jindrová00:00:18.070
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• Alberto Di Stefano, you were born on 11th July, 1964 in Rome.00:00:23.162
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• Your father was a civil engineer and designer.00:00:29.066
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• Your mum was a teacher of mathematics and physics.00:00:32.161
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• You have got two sisters.00:00:34.937
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• You studied history of architecture and restoration at La Sapienza in Rome.00:00:36.822
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• You first came to Prague in 1985 and spent your last year of studies in Frankfurt in 1991.00:00:46.742
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• You visited Prague many times at that time and settled there for good in 1994.00:00:57.477
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• I wonder why you chose the Czech Republic and Prague.00:01:05.144
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• What attracted you there?00:01:10.792
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• I remember Prague was in the 1980s00:01:12.856
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• incredibly romantic for a young student of architecture.00:01:17.058
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• There were many old buildings before reconstruction,00:01:23.240
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• everything was under scaffolding, the facades were black,00:01:28.213
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• all shops closed as if they had closed before war and never opened again.00:01:32.338
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• Prague looked like a world waiting for being discovered.00:01:40.645
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• After 1989 it became more lively and there were more possibilities00:01:45.964
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• and suddenly there appeared more things that attracted me.00:01:54.116
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• Not only the beauty of the old town, art and architecture00:01:58.841
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• but also business opportunities to invest at the beginning of my career.00:02:03.251
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• It all linked and I suddenly realized I was living in Prague.00:02:08.887
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• I would never decide to move to Prague without it.00:02:14.363
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• It came all naturally and gradually.00:02:19.105
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• How was your relation to art and culture formed?00:02:24.214
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• Was there any influence of your family, parents or grandparents?00:02:27.326
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• My parents loved art, especially the old one.00:02:33.757
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• I remember my first visit to Venice when I was six,00:02:38.371
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• or to the Louvre Museum in Paris when I was eight.00:02:44.264
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• It made a great impression on me as a small child.00:02:48.001
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• I remember walking around churches in Rome with my mum,00:02:53.123
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• discovering Caravaggio or rather morbid memento mori00:02:56.843
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• our baroque churches certainly do not lack in.00:03:02.812
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• I guess the relation to art was quite strong in our family,00:03:08.527
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• my dad used to collect old paintings, especially Madonnas with child,00:03:14.030
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• our flat in Rome was full of these huge old paintings.00:03:20.342
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• I have definitely drawn something from that.00:03:25.527
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• My dad was also friends with a relatively good painter from Poland,00:03:29.509
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• who sometimes came to Italy and he would paint for my dad.00:03:33.518
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• So he had other art too, but nothing contemporary.00:03:39.043
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• My mum hates all the art we have here00:03:44.725
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• but that's part of the game.00:03:48.170
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• But the background of my childhood certainly influenced me,00:03:50.578
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• the passion for books, travelling and art as well.00:03:57.404
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• You have already mentioned your passion for old architecture,00:04:04.347
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• but how was your concern in contemporary art awakened?00:04:08.028
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• It was a gradual process, but it's mainly thanks to my friend Eugenio.00:04:15.642
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• He is an artist and when we met twenty years ago,00:04:21.386
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• he was at the very beginning of his career.00:04:25.108
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• We would visit galleries more actively together,00:04:27.670
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• I went to the Venice Biennale with him for the first time.00:04:31.792
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• and gradually the idea of establishing a small centre00:04:36.869
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• for contemporary art in Prague appeared.00:04:41.478
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• So that's how the Futura was established.00:04:49.025
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• Your interest in art is not only collecting00:04:52.893
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• but is also determined by the activities of the Centre00:04:58.029
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• for Contemporary Art Futura. Can you please describe00:05:02.134
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• how you select art for your private collection?00:05:06.189
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• I don't consider myself a typical collector00:05:12.274
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• and our collection is not standard as well.00:05:15.041
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• The art we have here in Třebešice is rather00:05:17.005
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• the outcome of a certain art process we got involved in,00:05:21.547
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• originally with Futura and later with Karlín Studios in Prague.00:05:28.549
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• We have also organized several residential stays00:05:34.918
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• for artists in Prague, Třebešice and New York.00:05:37.864
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• The artists are challenged to create00:05:43.417
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• something during their residential stay.00:05:47.191
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• When we came to Třebešice in 2000,00:05:49.889
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• it was a dilapidated ruin and I felt00:05:53.360
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• an urge to do something about it.00:05:58.543
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• I love old art and furniture but I couldn't imagine reconstructing00:06:04.419
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• the whole Renaissance castle and its subsequent furnishing00:06:09.654
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• with Renaissance or pseudo-Renaissance furniture00:06:16.323
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• and creating a historical interior.00:06:19.406
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• In my opinion the castle should live its new era00:06:21.403
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• and that is why I got an idea to invite00:06:25.482
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• both Czech and foreign artists.00:06:30.424
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• Even Futura in Prague is rooted in Třebešice.00:06:36.763
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• First we discovered the castle and started to work on it.00:06:42.603
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• There is a lot of beautiful space and we wanted00:06:47.369
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• to invite artists from all over the world to come,00:06:53.498
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• relax and create something as well.00:06:57.388
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• And during the work we discovered that00:07:00.605
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• inviting people from the United States or other distant countries00:07:05.993
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• to spent one month in the Czech countryside is quite absurd00:07:11.922
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• and we decided to find some place in Prague,00:07:16.868
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• where we could present their work.00:07:20.314
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• So we started to look for some place in Prague00:07:24.726
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• and we found the building where Futura is today.00:07:28.844
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• Paradoxically, the Futura had been opened before Třebešice,00:07:33.050
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• but the initial project originated in Třebešice.00:07:36.201
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• The project doesn't go along with the Futura building itself00:07:41.208
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• or the factory in Karlín, I regard Futura as00:07:46.286
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• a project rather than a physical place or a gallery.00:07:53.275
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• It's an effort to take part in the game actively.00:07:59.219
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• Contemporary art has always been a great game for me,00:08:03.204
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• and the artists have to respond to it.00:08:07.203
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• I want to help them to get into the public awareness,00:08:10.443
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• give them chance to create and present their work.00:08:15.418
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• Artwork from your collection has been shaping your00:08:19.642
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• living space here in Třebešice castle.00:08:23.285
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• Have you ever sold anything from your collection?00:08:26.415
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• Or is it such an intimate relation and every00:08:30.859
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• artwork you obtain has its stable position?00:08:35.256
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• I haven't sold any artwork so far and00:08:40.882
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• I don't feel like it, but you never know...00:08:44.124
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• The truth is I don't really like some pieces in my collection,00:08:49.822
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• and I also have changed my mind in the course of time,00:08:53.084
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• so it can't be ruled out completely.00:08:57.046
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• I don't take most of the art I buy as an investment,00:08:59.458
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• I'm not a typical collector, the material value doesn't00:09:03.523
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• play a big part in my deciding whether to have it or not.00:09:08.403
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• It's more about an enthusiasm,00:09:13.021
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• when I really like something and want to have it.00:09:15.884
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• Collecting is a desire to own something.00:09:19.938
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• Unlike other people I like possessing these things,00:09:30.223
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• but I don't want to have them locked in a storage.00:09:35.231
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• So everything I have in my collection is accessible,00:09:42.438
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• we opened the castle and everything displayed there can be seen.00:09:46.494
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• There are pieces I have more intimate relation to00:09:55.739
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• from various reasons. For example this cat rug00:10:01.845
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• from Ondřej Brody. It's an interesting and controversial work,00:10:06.685
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• it always invokes vivid reactions of our visitors.00:10:13.462
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• When my mum comes once or twice a year,00:10:20.964
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• I always have to roll it and hide it.00:10:24.888
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• She can't see it at all, because it reminds her00:10:31.012
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• of a beloved cat she had twenty years ago.00:10:35.533
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• I don't know whether to mention the bread charnel-house00:10:39.101
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• we have in the south tower.00:10:42.653
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• It is made of bread, there are three or four00:10:46.322
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• hundred skulls made of bread dough.00:10:49.179
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• It's a bit scary and many people may find00:10:52.618
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• it uncomfortable to have it right next to the dining hall.00:10:56.114
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• But as it's of bread, mice eat it in winter00:11:01.761
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• and flies and moths in summer, so we have trouble with it.00:11:07.447
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• So we have decided to move it somewhere out the next year,00:11:19.578
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• it has been in the castle for ten years00:11:24.169
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• and coexistence with such art has certain limits.00:11:28.244
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• Your collection is quite various, it can't be said00:11:33.007
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• you focus solely on painting or sculpture.00:11:36.119
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• How do you choose art for your collection?00:11:42.033
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• There is not any specific clue, it's mostly work of artists00:11:49.468
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• who exhibited in Futura or Karlín and whose work we are interested in.00:11:54.566
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• Of course we can't have work of all the artists who had exhibitions there.00:12:00.602
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• But we got to know some of the them better and had00:12:07.563
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• opportunity to gain or buy some of their work00:12:12.825
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• or we had something created by them for a specific place.00:12:15.832
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• Many site specifics we had here resulted00:12:20.826
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• from our mutual dialogue or agreement.00:12:26.932
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• We can't always accept the first suggestion the artists make.00:12:30.665
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• We came across several extravagant and crazy ideas00:12:36.817
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• that would quite radically affect the operation of00:12:40.808
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• this place or our lives in a negative way.00:12:46.461
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• So there is some filter, but we certainly don't want to censor anything.00:12:50.539
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• But at the same time we can't blindly accept everything.00:12:55.107
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• Do you remember the first piece you got hold of?00:13:00.329
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• I certainly don't, but I can mention the work of00:13:06.213
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• Jan Jakub Kotík as the first piece in our modern art collection.00:13:11.957
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• It's an installation made directly for the Futura opening00:13:17.561
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• in summer 2003 and we bought it00:13:22.790
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• from the artist when the exhibition ended.00:13:26.048
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• I remember the first video we bought from Mark Ther.00:13:29.365
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• Or the first exhibition I organized in 1990s00:13:34.708
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• in Rome and which was a disgrace...00:13:41.668
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• Logically my attitude to painting and art has changed.00:13:46.964
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• As I said before I consider everything in my collection00:13:52.331
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• to be equally good art which is normal I guess.00:13:57.337
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• At that time I was quite interested in painting,00:14:00.535
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• but some art I would not display today or00:14:04.701
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• I wouldn't like to have it in my collection.00:14:08.212
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• Is there anyone who influences your selection,00:14:12.179
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• any personality whose advice you take and who you trust?00:14:16.500
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• Any theorists, gallery owners or curators?00:14:21.926
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• I can't mention anybody specific, but we of course follow00:14:29.692
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• all the events at both Czech and foreign art platform.00:14:34.006
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• We go to exhibitions, follow Artyčok, read articles and so on.00:14:39.535
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• Last but not least, the Futura has been always opened00:14:48.909
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• to a co-operation with Czech and foreign curators.00:14:52.910
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• Thanks to the curators we could get involved in broader circle of artists.00:14:58.794
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• There was a beautiful workshop several years ago with the American curator,00:15:07.726
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• Cuban living in New York, Omar Chahoud.00:15:15.265
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• He selected artists in New York who came here00:15:18.806
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• and whose work we have in our collection.00:15:25.657
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• We co-operated with Emanuela Nobile Mino, Czech curators...00:15:29.009
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• We are open to any advice but of course we make the final decision.00:15:32.616
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• You've just started listing your collection.00:15:42.557
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• Can you estimate the total number of artwork in your collection?00:15:46.483
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• Not precisely. Here in Třebešice,00:15:55.468
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• inside the castle and outside in the granary,00:16:00.261
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• we have about eighty pieces of artwork and installations.00:16:04.548
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• The second part of our collection is stored in a depositary.00:16:08.605
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• Although the word depositary doesn't fit the reality unfortunately.00:16:13.307
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• Something is stored here and in Karlín, but a big part is still with the artists00:16:19.833
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• who had sold us their work but they haven't given it to us so far.00:16:25.419
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• Our attempt to list the collection is the first one to make a systematic00:16:30.563
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• list of what we have and we'd like to grasp00:16:39.058
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• a certain context and link the works together.00:16:45.000
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• We also want our collection to be accessible for loans abroad.00:16:51.281
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• You said you were open to art bestowals for exhibitions.00:17:00.077
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• What are your requirements?00:17:05.959
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• Is there any artwork you would not lend to any exhibition?00:17:08.954
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• If the exhibition is quality, and we are assured that00:17:15.937
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• the work won't be damaged and is well insured, we don't resist.00:17:20.963
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• For example the Kotík's installation behind us00:17:24.946
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• has been loaned two or three times.00:17:28.822
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• Last year it was at Veletržní Palace, before that at Musée Saint-Étienne in France00:17:32.437
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• and it will certainly travel again in the future.00:17:38.133
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• I think there isn't any work I wouldn't bestow,00:17:42.824
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• I don't even know any reason why shouldn't I.00:17:46.995
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• We don't have any work that is delicate to that extent00:17:51.519
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• in our collection. We don't have any Renaissance masterpieces00:17:54.687
• 00:17:54.687
• that could be damaged during the transport.00:17:58.463
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• So if the exhibition is quality or important,00:18:01.204
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• we don't have any problem with it.00:18:06.196
• 00:18:06.196
• Have you ever considered donating your collection to any institution?00:18:09.547
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• Of course me and my friend have dealt many times00:18:15.483
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• with the question what was going to happen when00:18:19.636
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• we weren't here any more. It is unfortunately evident00:18:21.678
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• we won't be here forever. We would like to preserve00:18:25.217
• 00:18:25.217
• the collection in one piece and as it often was created00:18:30.207
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• for a specific place it would be great if it stayed here.00:18:35.804
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• How to accomplish such aim is a question.00:18:41.817
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• We may establish a foundation or donate it to the community,00:18:46.351
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• city, region or the state if they are ever interested.00:18:52.229
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• I think that our attempt to arrange the collection rationally00:18:56.223
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• and to make a catalogue which is going to be online,00:19:01.325
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• is the first move towards a certain institutionalization00:19:05.715
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• of the collection and its organization00:19:12.669
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• so that it isn't any spontaneous adventure of the two of us.00:19:15.705
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• We want the collection to gain a certain dignity to outlive us.00:19:21.596
• 00:19:21.596
• What do you plan for the coming years in Třebešice?00:19:29.385
• 00:19:29.385
• The castle's operation and especially its garden00:19:38.661
• 00:19:38.661
• take us quite a lot of time and energy.00:19:44.415
• 00:19:44.415
• However we try to carry on step by step.00:19:47.420
• 00:19:47.420
• With the help of volunteers we started to00:19:52.617
• 00:19:52.617
• reconstruct our big granary last summer.00:19:55.782
• 00:19:55.782
• We have a beautiful baroque granary and we would like to00:20:02.249
• 00:20:02.249
• store another part of our collection there, ideally during the next year.00:20:07.688
• 00:20:07.688
• We would like to take a part of the collection00:20:13.721
• 00:20:13.721
• from the depository and make it accessible to public.00:20:17.265
• 00:20:17.265
• We have a crucial installation by Ján Mančuška who had an exhibition00:20:21.979
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• in Futura within Jindřich Chalupecký Award Final.00:20:26.069
• 00:20:26.069
• It's a wall with inscriptions and it hasn't been displayed for ten years.00:20:30.312
• 00:20:30.312
• We bought it at that time and still have it in the depository.00:20:38.791
• 00:20:38.791
• Pavlína Morganová told us she wanted to make00:20:42.575
• 00:20:42.575
• a big exhibition the next year and I'm sure it will be00:20:47.339
• 00:20:47.339
• a great opportunity to arrange it in the granary.00:20:51.656
• 00:20:51.656
• Of course there was done just a fraction00:20:59.885
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• of work that should be done.00:21:03.593
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• There are huge farm buildings waiting for reconstruction.00:21:06.909
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• A big barn, a small barn, cow barns and so on.00:21:14.108
• 00:21:14.108
• There is a lot of work for the next three or four generations as well.00:21:17.542
• 00:21:17.542
• The more I hope we will come up with a system00:21:22.651
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• that would keep the project going even when we are not here any more.00:21:26.525

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