The dialogue between past, present, and future of Artejeans 2024

Artejeans is a project that started in 2020, inspired by an idea by Francesca Centurione-Scotto and Ursula Casamonti, who are ambassadors of Genoa. The project is dedicated to established contemporary artists in Italy and internationally, inviting them to create their works using denim. The 2024 edition was hosted by the Diocesan Museum of Genoa and represented a dialogue between the past, present, and future of the iconic denim fabric and its city.

Photo by Alberto Lagomaggiore

Denim is a common thread between centuries and distant places

The 2024 edition of Artejeans took place in a special location. Through a collaboration with Paola Martini, director and curator of the Diocesan Museum of Genoa, contemporary works were showcased alongside the Teli della Passione, created in the 16th and 17th centuries using indigo-dyed linen fiber and preserved in the same museum.

The exhibition was titled Jeans Loci, a play on the Latin expression genius loci, to highlight denim’s role as a connecting thread across centuries and different places. The displayed works, some new and others selected from previous editions, represented denim’s ability to continually renew itself while staying true to its origins and essence.

Photo by Alberto Lagomaggiore

Artejeans has engaged around fifty artists across four editions, showcasing works of painting, sculpture, photography, and installations. The pieces were donated to the Civic Museums of Genoa to establish the world’s first contemporary art museum dedicated solely to denim. The artists involved were Akelo, Simone Berti, Alberto Biasi, Tomaso Binga, Henrik Blomqvist, Enzo Cacciola, Pierluigi Calignano, Letizia Cariello, Marco Casentini, Roberto Coda Zabetta, Sonia Costantini, Marcello De Angelis, Maurizio Donzelli, Ulrich Egger, Ettore Favini, Marco Ferri, Emanuela Fiorelli, Giovanni Gaggia, Ferruccio Gard, Luca Giacobbe, Goldschmied & Chiari, Riccardo Guarneri, Paolo Iacchetti, Franco Ionda, Emilio Isgrò, Ugo La Pietra, Marco Lodola e Giovanna Fra, Claudia Losi, Fulvio Magurno, Rae Martini, Carolina Mazzolari, Albano Morandi, Ugo Nespolo, Giovanni Ozzola, Valentina Palazzari, Gioni David Parra, Francesca Pasquali, Angelo Petrolani, Gabriele Picco, Pino Pinelli, Fabrizio Plessi, Gianni Politi, Gioacchino Pontrelli, Paolo Radi, Alfredo Rapetti Mogol, Carlo Rea, Laura Renna, Marta Spagnoli, Vedovamazzei, Serena Vestrucci, Cesare Viel, Helidon Xhixha, and Gianfranco Zappettini.

We are proud of our collaboration with Artejeans, which involved donating fabrics to artists to aid them in creating their works. According to Francesca Centurione-Scotto, our denim aligns perfectly with the themes and objectives of the project, as “Candiani takes up the thread of denim from its origins and brings it into the future.”

Photo by Alberto Lagomaggiore

Genoa is the Capital of the Middle Ages in 2024

In 2024, the municipality of Genoa has dedicated a cultural project to the Middle Ages, a period when jeans have their roots. The city gained autonomy in the year 1000 and began to establish itself as a mercantile power. The port of Genoa became central, with significant development initiated in the 12th century. The port continued to expand in the following centuries, reaching its peak in the 16th century.

Genoese fustian, the ancestor of contemporary denim fabric, was used by sailors and dockworkers before being used to produce durable work clothes. It was easily exported throughout Europe, gaining popularity, particularly in England. The fabrics were included in inventories with the name of the city of origin, and in London, Genoa, called Gênes in French, became geanes, jeanes, and finally, jeans.

Artejeans 2024 tells once again how the histories of Genoa and London intersect, as Tessa Marchington and Ian Ritchie discuss the link between the two cities. Part of the Artejeans collection will be exhibited in Devonshire Square for the Innovation Festival, which will be dedicated to Paganini and jeans. For the occasion, the London Symphony Orchestra will also be dressed entirely in denim.

Photo by Alberto Lagomaggiore

Artejeans is a flag of Genoa to be carried around the world

We have just seen how Genoese fustian was primarily used by the poorest people, as also depicted by the unknown Master of the Blue Jeans in paintings from the 17th century. The works showcase the daily and frugal life of various figures, including beggars and women doing housework, dressed in a blue fabric that fades in some parts. Genoese fustian was also used to dress figurines of beggars and shepherds in the 18th-century nativity scenes.

It’s fascinating that Genoa was also well-known for producing gold threads for wealthy families. The processing of gold threads was an important activity for the city, focusing on quality rather than quantity. These products were even exported to places like Provence and Tunisia as early as the 13th century. The gold thread industry in Genoa remained prosperous in the following centuries, contrasting and intertwining with the humbler blue thread of jeans.

Artejeans seeks to narrate these stories that have shaped Genoa over the centuries, serving as a symbol for the city’s heritage to be celebrated globally. Francesca Centurione-Scotto, the creator of Artejeans, emphasized the importance of contemporary art museums in understanding a city’s past, present, and future, alongside other essential elements like cemeteries and supermarkets.

Photo by Alberto Lagomaggiore