The multifaceted figure of Cristiano Leone

The valorization of history for the contemporary, edited by Cristiano Leone.

The golden light of the Lungotevere reflects on the roofs of the Eternal City and forcefully enters the warm and welcoming rooms of Cristiano Leone's apartment. On the table, books and the latest projects of what we could define as a multifaceted figure: philologist, academic, curator, popularizer.

He directed the artistic program of Villa Medici, conceived the Festival Ō at the Baths of Diocletian and wrote for the theater and television. Different aspects of a single existence, in a continuous search for new contemporary perspectives, to reread and enhance the Italian artistic heritage.

Let's start with your background, where did you study?
I am a Romance philologist, I have an academic background: I graduated in Paris and Italy, I have done exchange programs since the beginning of my studies. I started at the University of Naples and there I met my mentor, Laura Minervini: when we met she understood how passionate I was about pure research, so she advised me to go away and have as many experiences as possible abroad and study as many languages ​​as I could.

I deepened my knowledge in particular of the dead languages ​​Latin, Romance, Castilian, Old French. I began publishing very early, I wrote my first book during my three-year degree: the translation of a Latin text, the first annotated edition of " The Thousand and One Nights ", compiled in 1100 by an Easterner for Westerners.

Then I continued to do research while I was specializing in Romance philology, in that period I discovered another writing in the library of Berlin, published with the Accademia dei Lincei and later I started an international European Doctorate, between France, Italy, Spain and Switzerland.

When did you begin to focus on your curatorial vocation?

"While teaching in Belgium I realized that I was mainly interested in dealing with cultural projects for a larger number of people, not a niche."
Christian Leone

So I decided to resume my studies: I studied management with an executive MBA, then I completely shifted my assets towards much more entrepreneurial aspects, I worked in a spin-off for a group in the healthy sector and I created an online training academy, then I returned to France where I worked for the Sorbonne Université , with the creation of educational-cultural programs and taught at Science Po – where I had two chairs, one in comparative aesthetics and one in civilization – and then returned to Rome at Luiss, where I currently teach cultural programming.

When exactly did the transition from Romance philology to cultural programming occur?
The experience of the Sorbonne, with the establishment of the degree courses, played a crucial role: working together with teachers and researchers on experimental projects in the field of creativity and education.

The principle is the same, even today that I have a more creative job, I feel like an orchestra conductor, since I bring together musicians, artists, cultural operators trying to develop multidisciplinary projects, generating synergies.

"Together, we work to enhance the historical heritage."
Christian Leone

How did you end up at Villa Medici?
I always think that in my work it is more important to be in contact with inspiring people than in prestigious institutions, in the case of Villa Medici I was very lucky to be able to combine these two aspects. I wanted to work with Muriel Mayette – Holtz – who I had been able to appreciate as General Manager of the Comédie-Française , as a spectator – she always seemed to me a strong, energetic woman.

When she was appointed director of Villa Medici I contacted her telling her that I lived between France and Italy and wanted to work for the synergy between these two cultures: that's how we met.

How did meeting Muriel affect you?
For me she is what is called âme sœur , intellectually she was my finishing school.

"Today I try to merge an academic, analytical scientific vision with a synthetic one, which welcomes the public in the relationship with art, education and culture; I learned this thanks to her."
Christian Leone

What was the best moment of these three years at Villa Medici?
One thing that has remained in my heart is the meeting with Emmanuelle Riva, a great actress of theater and cinema, she is in my heart also for “ Hiroshima mon amour ”. She came for a lecture, we had dinner together and I had the opportunity to talk with her in depth.

She knew it would be her last conference, she was 93 years old and very ill, worried about how the world was evolving. I remember her as a woman of great simplicity and extraordinary professionalism, despite her weak strength she managed to give a masterly speech: a moment of grace.

Another unforgettable moment was the meeting with Jean-Paul Goude, the greatest French advertiser. Here, they come back to me with all the details, the dinners, the chats, the reflections, the doubts and the good times lived with these extraordinary characters. 

You moved from the academic to the creative environment, also covering the role of art director. Is there a connection between two such distinct experiences? Yes, for me music and contemporary art, in general contemporary experimentation are the almost concrete aspect of the theoretical one taught at university. At the base, in every project there is a pedagogical will, that is, of cultural diffusion.

For me, teaching the geopolitics of the Mediterranean or doing an electronic music project in an archaeological context are two aspects of the dissemination of knowledge.

"Today it is essential that in universities as well as in museums teachings take life, a form, a body and that they can be shown."
Christian Leone

Is there an art form that you prefer, that you feel closer to?
By nature, education I am curious and curiosity then pushes me to study. So I study different fields of creation.

"What is most congenial to me, at the moment, is music, which is essential for me: I studied music but I started working with musicians recently, about three years ago."
Christian Leone

I see it as a sort of externalization of my inner world.

You feel it more directly, the music...
I think there is an authenticity in music that is immediate, you can't fool music.

Do you have a reference artist?
Maybe as a contemporary artist James Turrell, I really like him and I think he has a spiritual dimension that for me is fundamental in art. He works a lot with lights on the synchronization of celestial bodies.

When you enter his works you have a chromatic impact that distracts you from concrete reality and takes you towards something much more ancestral.

Why do you like the stage?
I actually like being on stage because it strengthens me, I am very shy and my whole existence has been dedicated to overcoming this shyness. Once I presented the award ceremony for the research doctors of all the Sorbonne universities at the theatre de Chatelet in front of about two thousand people, on one of the most important stages in France and for me it was a strong emotion: I was shaking even if they told me it was not noticeable.

Actually, if I could choose what to be in life, I would definitely choose a dancer or a singer: the truth is that I love those who can turn their body into art.

What is your talent?
The method. I think I have acquired a method thanks to philology that has allowed me to channel my curiosity, allowing me to 'harness', channel the will to touch and understand things.

"I connect things out of a purely selfish need to find my meaning in the world."
Christian Leone

By method do you mean being methodical or a process, an approach of your own?
I study, whatever I do I study, I go into depth, as much as possible into the subject. At that point I reflect, I discuss with the artists to understand how that work can be enhanced and can welcome new challenges, welcoming them together with me. Mine is an accompanying role.

How do you see yourself in the future?
I would like to be able to really dedicate myself to an institution for a while and give it life, open it, make it known, be able to work more and more on the connection between historical heritage and contemporary art. What I would really like is to establish in the public the idea of ​​pleasure, of taste for culture, work on the idea of ​​diffusion.

In France, “vulgarization” is a beautiful concept, in Italy it seems that either you have to vulgarize in the sense of trivializing or you tend to always speak to a select few, instead I would like to be able to find the right medium and propose high quality projects in a simple way. Giving the public the keys to understanding is essential otherwise the gap between art consumers and artists will become increasingly wider and will become caricatural.

"This is why it is essential that people understand what is happening today in contemporary experimentation and I feel I want to take on an institutional role, to make people understand, to explain."
Christian Leone

Is yours a veiled criticism of contemporary art?
You cannot disconnect from reality and you must always realize that art and culture must exist for the widest number of users. You cannot address the elite and those who have the privilege of being elite. We who have this privilege must recognize it and give the possibility to others to enjoy it in the same way, we must welcome not chase.

Is this also a question of communication?
Yes, it is fundamental, it has a primordial role. The theme of communication is demeaning, when instead it is valorization it becomes fundamental, also in political and cultural terms.

"The Talent of Mr." is a project by Paolo Pecora Milano that investigates, through a series of interviews, Italian talent at 360°.

We have selected different stories that represent the excellence of Italian craftsmanship: from communication to creativity, to architecture, to cinema and the world of food. To tell a lifestyle that is unique in the world. The project in collaboration with the curator and journalist Alessio de'Navasques, was born with the idea of ​​focusing on that ineffable element of Italian talent, difficult to define and describe, an expression of a DNA and a cultural background that is lost in time.