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exploring taste—santa margherita gruppo vinicolo exploring taste issue 1—preface

have an amazing job. I am an independent curator of contemporary art,
which means organizing exhibitions for artists, mainly my peers, in dif-
ferent locations throughout Italy and the world.
I Relationships are key in the work of a curator, especially with artists,
who we literally have to take care of. We listen to them to understand the alter-
native visions of the world. Art has no utilitarian purpose; it has no concrete
reason. Art allows extreme freedom of thought that emancipates both those
who create is and those who admire it. But beyond this imaginary and mag-
nificent place, which belong to me and to which I belong, there are so many
places with different landscapes, lights, smells and flavors, that my profession/
passion lets me explore and taste.
Traveling is part of my job description: exploring the diverse places beyond
the neutral aesthetic of international museums and galleries, discovering and
adding them to my existential experience with that special warmth you feel at
a laid table, is my prerogative. In fact, the most effective and enjoyable way to
get to know a place is by tasting its gastronomic specialities and hearing sto-
ries about local food and traditions, which often turn into confessionals. I also
think it is best way to create quality human bonds.
To be honest, recently I have spent a lot of time in my own city - first with Expo
Milano 2015, then for the birth of my daughter. But now we are planning new
A GEOGRAPHY departures and new adventures. Memories from the past resurface with an emo-
tional force that has less to do with the languor of nostalgia, and more to do with
OF EMOTIONS the creative wish to expand my identity through the discovery of new places I
will temporarily pass through, taking with me the memory of the experience.
“In the world through which I travel, I am endlessly creating myself”, wrote
controversial third world intellectual Frantz Fanon. My trips – steps along the
by great journey of building myself – have always been, inside and out, two equal-
CAROLINE CORBETTA ly important parallel worlds: the art world and the real world. The art world
is often a privileged non-place, where, in the words of Paul Virilio (which he
used to describe our hyper-connected daily life), you are “everywhere at the
same time while being nowhere at all”. This is not an abstract concept, but the
reality of many professionals in the art world. I remember this one famous cu-
rator in particular, who at a gala dinner skipped all the five-star dishes and
highly prized wines, drinking just a few espressos at the end. He had the habit
of saying that he only knew the museums, hotels and airports of the world – all
non-places. Whereas I vividly remember, as if it had just been yesterday, the
smells and flavors, as well as the faces and stories (the lives) of the Thessaloniki
tavern, the Reykjavik fish market, the prestigious Stockholm bistro, the Siena
enoteca, the New York diner and the Venice bacari. Around those disparate
tables in the company of different people, theories and friendships were made,
fights were had over opinions and tastes and we drank to successful exhibi-
tions and talents on the rise. I could never go without those shared moments
that only food and wine can offer, and that over the years contributed to a “per-
sonal yet social psycho-geography”, as Giuliana Bruno wrote in her indispens-
able Atlas of Emotion – where places have a taste and a flavor.

Caroline Corbetta, curator of contemporary art
and Artistic Director of Crepaccio (but that's another story...)

Villanova of Fossalta in Portogruaro, home of Santa Margherita
Gruppo Vinicolo, 1930s. Photo by Giacomelli, Venice.
Renata Canciani Villanova private collection

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