Reliving the past of futurism

The present used to be the future envisaged by those living in the past. More than a century ago in Italy, a group of writers, artists and designers initiated a movement called futurism to advocate for progress and modernity brought by the Second Industrial Revolution. They depicted new aesthetics, lifestyle and convention in their work, and the trend soon became global to influence the cultural communities across Europe and in other parts of the world.

What futurists anticipated then has become the normal for people today, and yet, their creativity and unconventional spirit keep igniting new thoughts. This shared vision united curators in Italy and China to mount in Beijing an exhibition on futurism, titled Futurist Universe.

The exhibition, running though Sunday at the Tsinghua University Art Museum, brings together more than 250 works of art from 1909 to 1939, the most prosperous period of the movement.

On display are selections from the collection of Fondazione Massimo e Sonia Cirulli, an institution in Bologna, with its goals to promote the knowledge of Italian art and visual culture from the early years of the country's engagement with modernity, that is, from the 1900s, to the economic boom after the World War II up until the '70s.

The exhibition is the outcome of more than two years of work and is also part of the China-Italy year of culture and tourism in 2022.

Su Dan, the exhibition's co-curator, says the title, "futurist universe", is an alternative way of referring to futurism, by comparing the wide scope of the movement, as well as its far-reaching influence, to that of the universe.

The exhibition pays tribute to the heyday of futurism, showing paintings, sculptures, graphic and industrial designs, photographs, manuscripts, books and magazines, among others. It offers an expansive landscape of futurists' experiments in almost all forms of expression, including visual arts, performance art, architecture and even food.

The beginning of futurism was marked by the publication of the Futurism Manifesto in 1909, written by the poet Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, on the front page of Le Figaro, then the largest newspaper in France. It grew into an all-encompassing movement, influencing cultural, artistic and social values.

"In one instance, Marinetti's article turned on a new chapter of the time, and many figures with infinite energies emerged in this prosperous movement," Su says.

He says futurism came into being as one of the fruits of the Second Industrial Revolution. "Industry was viewed by people then as a huge beast created by the humankind and growing to be even more powerful. And the great power of industry was depicted as beautiful and sometimes, violent."

Works of futurism extolled speed, power and high efficiency, as well as the art of machine and the labor needed for industrialization. They show people's satisfaction with a cleaner, safer and more efficient working environment because of the new technology and inventions of the Second Industrial Revolution and the social development that came with it.

The invention of the airplanes, for example, enabled people to have a higher and broader vision. Su says the experiences of getting closer to the sky dramatically reshaped people's ideas of the world they were living in.

Works on show highlight aviation as one of the recurring themes of futurist art. Flight was enthusiastically cheered in the founding manifesto by Marinetti, and was depicted regularly in the paintings, sculptures and poems in the 1930s. Flight was seen to crystallize the spirit of futurism, as it combined genius, willpower, imagination and aeronautical technologies in the era of industry.

"The greatness of these artists, writers, architects and designers is that they foresaw the future and tried to visualize it in their works," Su says. "People at the time embraced a great passion for the future and they had a lot of fantasies in their minds. Everyone wanted to be a prophet."

Jeffrey Schnapp, the Italian co-curator of the exhibition, says by utilizing the richness and diversity of the Fondazione Massimo e Sonia Cirulli collection, it explores the depth and territories of futurism and tells a story of how this movement changed the culture in the first half of the 20th century.

In a video speech at the exhibition opening in September, Massimo Cirulli said the goal of his foundation is to bridge cultures, and the exhibition will better communicate the way Italians think and their takes on life and boost mutual understanding of people of the two countries.