"When I start living according to what I thought yesterday, I’ll begin to fear those who copy me".
Fortunato Depero

Nearly twenty years after the inauguration of the Mart in Rovereto, an exhibition dedicated to Fortunato Depero explores the relevance of his experimentation and the influence his work has had on art, fashion, and design from the 1970s to today. On display are 500 works including paintings, drawings, furnishings, objects, posters, photographs, books, and magazines as well as a dozen videos and films made over the last 20 years, comics, design objects and his famous advertising sketches Campari.

Born in Turin in 1892, upon his death in 1960, Depero left Rovereto the only Italian futurist museum and his own personal archive of nearly 3000 objects, including many of his art work, papers, materials, and a rich library. This invaluable patrimony proves his legacy as a multifaceted artist who worked on various fronts and areas of experimentation, from painting to complex plastic architecture, from graphics to the theater, from poetry to communication, from opera to editorial works. A creative in pursuit of total art, firmly convinced that there was no artistic language more important than another.

Over the years, the Mart has stayed true to Depero’s ideas and transformed his legacy into an ever-growing patrimony. The center has invested in the purchase of dozens of works and numerous archives, in restorations (among the most recent are his famous "tapestries" normally exhibited at Casa Depero) and in the reconstruction of costumes, furniture, objects, and sets such as his famous works for "I Balli Plastici" and "Le chant du rossignol". “Depero new Depero” exhibit tells this story for the first time.

The scenographic layout, curated by Studio Baldessari e Baldessari, features five sections: "Reconsructions", with numerous remakes of Depero's unusual theatre creations; "Depero Effect", in which the great Italian design names overtly inspired by this Trentino artist emerge; "America", where Depero's art and personal life are told via the most recent audiovisual productions; "Museum", made with the Archivio del '900's documents and publications; "Conservation/Education", which focuses on the projects promoted by Mart over the years in the restoration and cultural mediation context.