In Perugia, from June 17, 2025 to January 6, 2026, Palazzo Baldeschi hosts the exhibition “EXTRA. Ancient Signs/Contemporary Visions”, a project that brings together a selection of around 100 medieval parchments from the Albertini Collection with over 40 works by 18 contemporary artists, including Alighiero Boetti, Emilio Isgrò, Maria Lai, David Tremlett, and Gianni Dessì. Curated by Marco Tonelli and promoted by Fondazione Perugia, the exhibition stems from the 2024 acquisition of approximately 1,700 parchments dating from the 13th to the 15th century, originally used as covers for ancient municipal, notarial, and judicial registers.

These documents, decorated with coats of arms, geometric motifs, and textual annotations, are presented alongside contemporary artworks through thematic, iconographic, or conceptual pairings, creating a dialogue between word and image, memory and vision.

The exhibition is divided into five sections. Figurations features heraldic coats of arms alongside figurative works by artists like Luigi Serafini and Wim Delvoye. Abstractions explores geometric and chromatic connections between medieval codes and the works of Tremlett, Cannavacciuolo, and Pepper. Motifs investigates the sign as an autonomous form, as seen in the works of Boetti, Dessì, and Griffa. Symbols brings together archaic icons and mysterious emblems with pieces by Paladino, Ontani, and Tilson. Finally, (Re)writings explores erasures, stitches, and overwritings in the parchments, echoing the poetic and material universe of Isgrò, Novelli, and Lai.

EXTRA is an immersive journey that reinterprets ancient imagery through contemporary art, encouraging a new perspective on the past and opening reflections on cultural identity and history as a living heritage.

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