{"id":19425,"date":"2026-09-08T10:36:03","date_gmt":"2026-09-08T08:36:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aiap.it\/cdpg\/?p=19425"},"modified":"2026-09-08T12:55:22","modified_gmt":"2026-09-08T10:55:22","slug":"franco-bassi-an-exhibition-at-two-venues","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/aiap.it\/cdpg\/en\/franco-bassi-an-exhibition-at-two-venues\/","title":{"rendered":"Franco Bassi: An Exhibition at Two Venues"},"content":{"rendered":"
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On the occasion of the 14th edition of the Festival del Legno<\/a>, scheduled to take place in Cant\u00f9 from 24 September to 4 October 2026, the \u201cFausto Melotti\u201d State Art School, together with the \u201cAmici del Melotti\u201d Association and the Graphic Design Documentation Centre of AIAP<\/strong>, in collaboration with the Cassa Rurale ed Artigiana di Cant\u00f9 BCC, presents the exhibition Franco Bassi. Insegnante e grafico. Dalla Scuola d\u2019Arte di Cant\u00f9 alla Olivetti<\/strong> (“Franco Bassi. Teacher and Graphic Designer. From the Cant\u00f9 Art School to Olivetti”).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The exhibition, open from 26 September to 31 October 2026<\/strong>, has been organised to bring Franco Bassi \u2013 a leading figure in 20th-century Italian graphic design \u2013 back into the public spotlight and to explore the deep connection between his training, his years as a teacher at the Cant\u00f9 School of Art, and his subsequent professional career at Olivetti.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The exhibition spans two venues, offering a complementary journey through education, the applied arts, artistic research, and industrial design.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Franco Bassi for Olivetti. Poster for the DE700 data entry systems, 1977. On the right, a poster for the TES401 electronic typewriter, 1978 (courtesy of AIAP CDPG).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

At the Norberto Marchi Library of the \u201cFausto Melotti\u201d Art School<\/a>, the exhibition will primarily feature materials relating to the years when Bassi taught in Cant\u00f9, from 1941 to 1950: lace, embroidery, carvings, inlays, drawings, photographs and documents that bear witness to the teaching activities and the spirit of experimentation at the Art School during Romano Barocchi\u2019s tenure as director. These materials are complemented by an initial selection of items relating to his work as a graphic designer, drawn from the Franco Bassi Collection held at the AIAP CDPG.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The headquarters of the Cassa Rurale ed Artigiana di Cant\u00f9 BCC<\/a> will, meanwhile, host a section dedicated to his professional work for Olivetti \u2013 where Bassi worked from 1950 to 1978 \u2013 and his artistic output. Posters, brochures and advertising materials document his contribution to the visual communication of the Electronics and Typewriting Division of the Ivrea-based company. The exhibition also includes standalone artistic works, sketches and abstract studies, highlighting the continuity between Bassi\u2019s personal artistic exploration and his work as a graphic designer. Of particular significance is the lace piece \u2018Un merletto per Piero\u2019, produced by the Cant\u00f9 Lace Cooperative based on a design by Franco Bassi in 1992 and now held in the BCC\u2019s collection. The work bears witness to the artist\u2019s return, decades later, to the language of lace and forms an ideal link between his years of teaching in Cant\u00f9 and his subsequent design research.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cUn merletto per Piero\u201d (\u201cA Lace for Piero\u201d), based on a design by Franco Bassi and created by the Cant\u00f9 Lace Cooperative, 1992 (courtesy of BCC). On the right, a giraffe pierced by a spear, carved and inlaid, 1940s (courtesy of Liceo Artistico \u201cFausto Melotti\u201d).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The exhibition offers an opportunity to rediscover not only the figure of Franco Bassi, on the twentieth anniversary of his death, but also the role that the Cant\u00f9 School of Art played in the twentieth century in shaping Italian visual culture. This is a particularly significant exhibition within the context of the Festival del Legno, which sees Bassi\u2019s story as a meeting point between craftsmanship, the applied arts, design, and industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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FRANCO BASSI: INSEGNANTE E GRAFICO.
DALLA SCUOLA D\u2019ARTE DI CANT\u00d9 ALLA OLIVETTI
<\/strong>26 September \u2013 31 October 2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Opening: 26 September 2026, H 10:00 at Liceo Artistico “Fausto Melotti<\/strong>“<\/p>\n\n\n\n

FREE ENTRANCE<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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THE TWO VENUES:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Liceo Artistico Statale \u201cFausto Melotti\u201d \u2013 Biblioteca Norberto Marchi<\/strong>
Via Filippo Andina 8 \u2013 Cant\u00f9 (CO)
Opening hours: Monday\u2013Friday 9.00 am\u20134.00 pm, Saturday 9.00 am\u20131.00 pm<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cassa Rurale ed Artigiana di Cant\u00f9 BCC
<\/strong>Corso Unit\u00e0 d\u2019Italia 11 \u2013 Cant\u00f9 (CO)
Opening hours: Monday\u2013Friday 08:20\u201313:20 \/ 14:40\u201315:30<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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INFO:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Liceo Artistico Statale \u201cFausto Melotti\u201d
<\/strong>T. 031.714100
www.liceoartisticomelotti.edu.it<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

AIAP CDPG
Centro di Documentazione sul Progetto Grafico di AIAP<\/strong>
bi********<\/span>@**<\/span>ap.it<\/span><\/a> \/ ai**<\/span>@**<\/span>ap.it<\/span><\/a>
www.aiap.it\/cdpg<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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On the occasion of the 14th edition of the Festival del Legno, scheduled to take place in Cant\u00f9 from 24 September to 4 October 2026, the \u201cFausto Melotti\u201d State Art School, together with the \u201cAmici del Melotti\u201d Association and the Graphic Design Documentation Centre of AIAP, in collaboration with the Cassa Rurale ed Artigiana di […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":19411,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1271],"tags":[1276,1268],"class_list":["post-19425","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-notizie-en","tag-exhibition","tag-mostra-en"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/aiap.it\/cdpg\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19425","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/aiap.it\/cdpg\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/aiap.it\/cdpg\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aiap.it\/cdpg\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aiap.it\/cdpg\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19425"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/aiap.it\/cdpg\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19425\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19445,"href":"https:\/\/aiap.it\/cdpg\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19425\/revisions\/19445"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aiap.it\/cdpg\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19411"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/aiap.it\/cdpg\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19425"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aiap.it\/cdpg\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19425"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aiap.it\/cdpg\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19425"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}