Cagliari, the catalog of the exhibition "Traveling Companions" on Wednesday at the Mem

Remembering a celebrated Sardinian artist, without forgetting her colleagues and contemporaries: " Travelling Companions ," the exhibition dedicated to Maria Lai and other Sardinian women artists of the late twentieth century , closed yesterday at the Cagliari Ghetto , more than two weeks after its original closing date, a testament to its widespread appreciation. On Wednesday the 18th , the Mem will host the presentation of the exhibition catalogue at 5 pm in the events room of the Via Mameli complex.

A moment of public restitution of the path taken, in a project that brought Lai into dialogue with the other eleven protagonists of art in Sardinia, such as Annalisa Achenza , Zaza Calzia , Maria Crespellani , Rosanna D'Alessandro , Marta Fontana , Gabriella Locci , Lalla Lussu , Monica Lugas , Mirella Mibelli , Wanda Nazzari and Rosanna Rossi .

The exhibition's curator is art historian Gianni Murtas , who has also studied 20th-century Sardinian art as an author, editing books and catalogs on Tonino Casula, Filippo Figari, Foiso Fois, Lai herself, and many other artists. He also has a long-standing collaboration as a critic for La Nuova Sardegna, and since 2024, he has been the artistic director of the First Biennial of Contemporary Art in Ulassai.

And the title " Traveling Companions ," chosen by him, is intended to recall the shared journey of the artists and their works, exhibited without hierarchies, with a symbolic fulcrum in Lai , a global and contemporary artist yet never distant from her community. The overview of Sardinian female art thus highlights a heritage to be rediscovered, in a choral narrative made of threads, symbols, and visions , with different sensibilities but a common belonging.

The project, created by Agorà Sardegna and Coop Culture with the support of the Fondazione Sardegna , will not end with the exhibition but will continue in new chapters, the first of which is the presentation of the catalogue, with the idea of offering a moment of final discussion, where Murtas will engage in dialogue with the art critic Alessandra Menesini .