The utopia-inspired archaeological collection of the tenor Evan Gorga for the first time on show in Rome

Have you been to the Encyclopedic Palace at the Venice Biennale? Ok . Forget it. Now you can see the real one. It is located in the Palazzo D’ Altemps, Rome, where “Evan Gorga. The collector” is currently on show (from 19 October to 12 January 2014). The exhibition presents, for the very first time, a rich selection from the vast collection of archeological items of the tenor Evangelist Gorga (1865-1957) preserved in the Museo Nazionale Romano. There are about 1800 objects on display, a small part of an entire collection that documents the utopia of the Collector: to posses and to catalog the knowledge of archaeological objects, from artworks to fragments of glass, pottery, bronzes and marbles. Gorga had only one desire: to build “the museum of all time”. The list of his collection was titled “The encyclopaedic museum”. Visiting this exhibition today has three effects:
1) To investigate, through this extreme example of compulsive collector, the relationship between knowledge and possession which animates many collectors;

2) To realize how the concept of classification, derived from the positivist and post -Enlightenment thoughts, is now difficult for us to grasp ;

3) To reflect on the differences between web, catalogue and encyclopedia: the first category (the web) can include the other two, and – at the same time – be their perfect antithesis.

July 15, 2015