ABOUT US

BASSIRI FOUNDATION

Located in Fabro, the Foundation has the aim of promoting art and culture. Set up by artist Bizhan Bassiri and Camilla Cionini Visani, the Foundation undertakes to manage, conserve, and diffuse awareness of his work, as well as acting as a body and reference point in promoting art and culture through multidisciplinary initiatives ranging from the visual arts to music, theatre, literature and writing.

The main goal is to promote the local area through an annual programme of cultural events with a particular focus on contemporary art. The Foundation will also be a bridge between western and “other” cultures in the interests of consolidating the presence and knowledge of Italian artists abroad and disseminating the work of foreign artists in Italy, also through collaborations with other cultural institutions.

The Foundation operates in an international dimension intrinsic to the educational background and culture  of the Iranian artist Bizhan Bassiri, who has lived in Italy for over forty years. The intention is to launch projects promoting a real in-depth knowledge of different world cultures in order to overcome cultural, social, and ideological barriers.

The Foundation focuses in particular on new technologies, Open Source research, providing young scholars with the resources and instruments required to promote on-going studies in humanistic disciplines, with the aim of assuming a key role in artistic research and in the development of professions linked to art practices.

FONDAZIONE BASSIRI

Located in Fabro, the Foundation has the aim of promoting art and culture. Set up by artist Bizhan Bassiri and Camilla Cionini Visani, the Foundation undertakes to manage, conserve, and diffuse awareness of his work, as well as acting as a body and reference point in promoting art and culture through multidisciplinary initiatives ranging from the visual arts to music, theatre, literature and writing.

The main goal is to promote the local area through an annual programme of cultural events with a particular focus on contemporary art. The Foundation will also be a bridge between western and “other” cultures in the interests of consolidating the presence and knowledge of Italian artists abroad and disseminating the work of foreign artists in Italy, also through collaborations with other cultural institutions.

The Foundation operates in an international dimension intrinsic to the educational background and culture  of the Iranian artist Bizhan Bassiri, who has lived in Italy for over forty years. The intention is to launch projects promoting a real in-depth knowledge of different world cultures in order to overcome cultural, social, and ideological barriers.

The Foundation focuses in particular on new technologies, Open Source research, providing young scholars with the resources and instruments required to promote on-going studies in humanistic disciplines, with the aim of assuming a key role in artistic research and in the development of professions linked to art practices.

BIZHAN BASSIRI

Bizhan Bassiri is the founder and president of the Foundation. Born in Teheran in 1954, he left Iran for Rome in 1975 and now lives between Rome, Tuscany, and Umbria.

Bizhan Bassiri’s artistic research develops through the use of different materials and techniques: surfaces made from papier-mâché, and from steel and bronze,  lava stone elements, and photographic image processing. He is the author of Pensiero Magmatico (1984) and of the Manifesto del Pensiero Magmatico (1984 – 2021).

He began exhibiting in 1981, participating in solo and group shows. His work has been shown in numerous museums and cultural institutions including the Kunsthalle, Vienna (Austria); Museum van Hedendaagse Kunst, Ghent (Belgium); Centre d’Art Contemporain, Thiers (France); Borholms Kunstmuseum, Borholms (Denmark); Centro per l’Arte Contemporanea Luigi Pecci, Prato; Arsaevi, Collegiumartisticum, Sarajevo (Bosnia); the French Academy in Rome, Villa Medici; Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli; Tophane-i Amire culture and Art Centre, Istanbul (Turkey); S.M.A.K, Stedelijk Museum voor Actuele Kunst, Ghent (Belgium); Galleria Nazionale dell’Umbria, Perugia; Sala dei Cinquecento, Palazzo Vecchio, Florence; Tehran Contemporary Art Museum, Tehran; Macro Testaccio, Rome; Ca’ Pesaro – Galleria Internazionale d’Arte Moderna, Venice.

In 2017, he was the sole artist invited to represent Iran at the 57th Biennale of Venice with the exhibition Tapesh. The Golden Reserve of Magmatic Thought.

The founders are supported in their work by a Board whose members are leading figures from the Italian and international art scene and economic world sharing a passion for quality and excellence and their high regard for Bizhan Bassiri.

The cultural management of the Foundation’s activities is entrusted to a Scientific Committee chaired by Bruno Corà.

CAMILLA CIONINI VISANI

Co-founder, she is both vice president and director general of the Foundation

Camilla Cionini Visani is from Milan and graduated in International Relations from the Bocconi University, Milan. She was Director of International Affairs for Confindustria, dealing with policies and processes encouraging enterprise internationalization as well as consolidating relations with governments, Italian and foreign ministries. Previously she has held management roles at SACE – Gruppo Cassa Depositi e Prestiti in Rome and at the Deutsche Bank and Schroders in London. She is currently Director General at ItaliaFintech in addition to holding non-executive roles in leading companies like Alba Leasing, Solution Bank, and Coima Sgr. A lover of art, music, and culture, she is currently an Honorary Member of the Accademia Chigiana, Siena.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

LORENZO BINI SMAGHI

President of Museo Pecci di Prato, former President of Fondazione Palazzo Strozzi, Florence, as well as President of Société Generale, economist, former member of the Executive Board of the European Central Bank. Author of several books and Visiting Scholar at Harvard University.

BRUNO CORÀ

President of the Scientific Committee of the Bassiri Foundation. Art critic and historian, he is currently President of the Foundation Palazzo Albizzini Collezione Burri.

GIANLUCA COMIN

Board member at the Teatro dell’Opera, Rome, and former member of the governing body of the Biennale di Venezia as well as President and Founder of Comin & Partners. Former Director of Communications and Institutional Relations for Enel. Lecturer in Communication Strategies at the Luiss “Guido Carli” University; author of several books on communication.

ELENA DI GIOVANNI

Board member at the Galleria nazionale di Arte Moderna, Rome, Co-founder and vice president at Comin & Partners, former director of communications at the Biennale di Venezia.

MARIA LETIZIA MAGALDI

Vice President of Museo MADRE, Naples, entrepreneur and Vice President of the Board of Directors of the Magaldi Group.

DIEGO MASELLA

Former Mayor of the municipality of Fabro. Currently, he works in the field of prevention in living environments and safety in workplaces.

SOPHIE NICOLAS ROSSETTI

Passionate about design and contemporary art, she has combined her personal and professional experience in lifestyle to dedicate herself to creating her own company, focusing on luxury hospitality.

CATIA TOMASETTI

Lawyer and partner at Bonelli Erede, coordinating the Banking and Finance Department, former president of banks and publicly-listed companies, currently President of the Board of Directors of  the Banca Centrale di San Marino, of the Conseil de Surveillance at the concession company for the Nice, Cannes, and Saint Tropez airports, and member of the Board of Directors of the Rome Chamber of Commerce.

ANTONIO VENTURINI

Auditor

Founder of the accountancy firm of the same name in Ravenna with extensive experience in dealing with art foundations. He was a member of the audit committee of the MAXXI Foundation from 2014 to 2019.

SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE

BRUNO CORÀ

President

Art critic and historian, President of Fondazione Burri, Città di Castello.

Michelle Coudray

President of Jannis Kounellis Archive, Rome.

Thierry Dufrêne

Lecturer in Art History at the Paris Nanterre University, his publications include The Big Gallery of sculptures, Paris, Centre Pompidou / Louvre / Orsay (2005), Giacometti / Genet. Mask and modern portrait, Paris, Vilo (2006), Dalì. Double image, double life, Paris, Hazan (2012), and Modigliani (Paris, Citadelles Mazenod, 2020).

Lars Kærulf Møller

Director emeritus at the Bornholm Art Museum, DenmarkCurator of numerous exhibitions, both at national and international level. His books on museology, graphic art, painting, and sculpture have been published in several languages. He is currently head of the Board of Directors and founding director of the Bornholm Biennials.

NICOLA SANI

Composer, artistic director, cultural manager, and journalist. Since 2015, he has been the artistic director of the Fondazione Accademia Musicale Chigiana.

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

SHEILA KASHANI

Iranian Canadian Art Curator graduated from OCAD University, Toronto, Majored in Art Critic & Curatorial Practice. Currently focusing on Iranian Contemporary art.

ARCHIVE
MANAGER

MITRA HEMATPOOR

Ph.D. in History of Contemporary Art at the La Sapienza University of Rome, specialized in Iranian art in Italy from the 1950s to the 1980s, Archivist at the State Archives.

ARCHIVE MANAGER

MITRA HEMATPOOR

Ph.D. in History of Contemporary Art at the La Sapienza University of Rome, specialized in Iranian art in Italy from the 1950s to the 1980s, Archivist at the State Archives.

EVENTS AND PUBLIC RELATIONS MANAGER

ASIA SIMONETTI

Art historian, graduated from the University of Florence. She holds a master’s degree in Art Management from the Free University of Guido Carli. She is currently attending the School of Specialization in Contemporary Art History offered by the University of Siena.

PARTNER