In her first IC Online Exhibition, Sacquegna shares a selection of works from her personal collection and tells us what she would like to do with the artworks she has already amassed.

“My collection is called “World Art Collection” and is divided by different disciplines, generations and origins of the artists. It all started in 1997 when I was a student at the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague where I was studying Engraving and Lithography. I was fascinated with the world of graphic arts, illustration, printmaking, the Japanese Ukiyo-e and the Ex Libris of Eastern Europe. Whilst in Prague I came into contact with engravers, antique dealers and local galleries where I bought many works and art books (mostly from the 60s to the 80s) by different mediums and artists from Prague, Pilsen, Frankfurt, Linz and Budapest. Many of them are internationally known as: Josef Manes, Emmerich Alois Hruška, Dagmar Berkovǎ, Alfred Fuchs, Josef Herčik, Jaroslav Chudomel, Ladislav Kašpar, František Peterka, Ruda Švǎb, Jiři Švengsbir, Helmut Ackermann, Ellen Beck, Jǜrgen Dost, Rudolf Grobe, Rudolf Koch, Friedrich Rasmus, Siegmund Sos, Rudolf Warneckee and many more.

From printmaking to photography, the step was small. Having the passion for printmaking –I’m an artist too – I experienced the first photo-etched in a print laboratory in Rome in 1999. I worked with many artists in Rome, Lecce and abroad and with the gallery Primo Piano LivinGallery. I always had a good relationship and respect with my artists and have followed them through their careers, I wrote critical texts about the works, as well as managing and curating group and solo exhibitions. One of the most important retrospective exhibitions we did was dedicated to Hermann Nitsch in 2006, as there were many years that the artist did not have an exhibition in a private gallery.

From 1997 up until today, I have collected many works of photography, painting, sculpture, installation, light boxes, and video art from internationally recognized artists, such as Hermann Nitsch, Xiao Lu, Massimo Attardi, Vanessa Beecroft, Paolo Consorti, Guillaume Liffran, Pam Longobardi, Gabriela Morawetz, Luisa Raffaelli, Elisa Laraia, Yu Zhaoyang, James Clancy, Grimanesa Amoros, Marthe Keller, Alessandro Passaro, Giulio De Mitri, Francesco Schiavulli, Salvatore Sava, Matthew Barney, Erwin Olaf, Ugo Nespolo, Carlo Bernardini, Eugenio Recuenco and also many young artists from Latin America as Astolfo Funes, Carlos Anzola, Roberto Notarfrancesco, Alberto Riera and Jose Ortega Coronel.

I am currently working as an independent curator in Italy and abroad, as well as looking for somewhere to house the collection! Having invested so much time, money and energy into the collection, I do not have the ability to buy or to rent a large space to exhibit it. My dream for the future is to find cultural entrepreneurs and patrons that can help me to manage this interesting art collection by offering an adequate and permanent exhibition space in Italy. It is here, specifically in Lecce, that I am hoping to make an art foundation – a dynamic and open space, dedicated to artistic experimentation, as it has been my gallery, as well as a space dedicated to the collection. My aim is to help both young people and adults to learn about contemporary art and encourage them to have a respect for multiculturalism.”