Abolition Garden
Public Conversation between artist muSa Mattiuzzi and curator Angelika Stepken

Abolition Garden is a growing garden and living anti-monument by Brazilian artist muSa Michelle Mattiuzzi. Planted this spring in the garden of KHI's Palazzo Capponi-Incontri to grow for the next two years, the installation is dedicated to Black radical thought and resistance stories throughout the process of Abolition of Slavery in Brazil. On Wednesday 25 September at 4.00pm there will be a public conversation between artist MuSa Mattiuzzi and curator Angelika Stepken in the garden of the Kunsthistorisches Institut.

Artist Biography

muSa Michelle Mattiuzzi is a Brazilian interdisciplinary artist based in Berlin, Germany. Her research and artistic practice unfold in performances, writings, photography, and artistic films. Mattiuzzi has performed and exhibited internationally, including the Biennale of São Paulo 2016 and 2018, the Documenta 14 – Capacete Residence Programme in Athens, and the Haus der Kulturen der Welt in Berlin. She has been artist-in-residence at the Villa Romana in 2021, as fellow of artistic research of KHI. She currently is artist-in-residence at the Jan van Eyck Academie in Maastricht (2023/24). https://www.studiomusa.art/en/

Curator Biography

Angelika Stepken was director of the Villa Romana in Florence from 2006 to 2022, and from 1998 to 2006 she was director of the Badischer Kunstverein in Karlsruhe. She organized numerous international exhibitions and curated the ifa (Institute for Foreign Relations) exhibition “Future Perfect”, which has been touring internationally since 2013. Among other things, she is the editor of the extensive monograph Ketty La Rocca – You. Works & Writings 1964–1976 (2018). https://angelikastepken.cargo.site/

About the Research Collaboration

The art installation is part of the institute’s ongoing engagement with artistic research by contemporary artists and the collaboration with Villa Romana, Florence. It is realized in collaboration with Hannah Baader, Costanza Caraffa, Dorit Malz, Gerhard Wolf and KHI’s Garden Commission, and curated by Angelika Stepken and Tina Plokarz. The study display is kindly supported by KHI Library. Abolition Garden is temporarily (2024 - 2026) placed in the garden of KHI's Palazzo Capponi-Incontri and will be accompanied by a series of public events and conversations.