The title is derived from the numerous manifestos that have been written by avant-garde artist groups since the beginning of the 20th century, many of which are also part of the Archiv der Avantgarden (ADA). They articulate statements and elucidate objectives and intentions.

Marzona’s Manifesto is a kind of legacy of donor Egidio Marzona in the form of a statement explaining his concept of the archive. The collector speaks about his personal history and his first encounters with art, about the development of his collection and about his ideas and visions for the presentation of the archive as a pioneering museum and research institution. Topics also include his other projects, such as the Prato d'Arte in Verzegnis, Italy, his art collection of the 1960s in the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen zu Berlin and his publishing house Edition Marzona, where he released publications on numerous subjects, including on Bauhaus, which have since become standard works. 

The camera captures the collector in various settings: at the ADA, at home in Berlin and while traveling.

The title is a nod to the famous Bilderatlas Mnemosyne (Mnemosyne Atlas) by Aby M. Warburg. The conversations in Marzona’s Atlas are dedicated to individuals, books and other artifacts that have had a decisive influence on Egidio Marzona and his concept for the Archiv der Avantgarden (ADA). One of the hallmarks of the ADA is that these inspirations come not only from the visual arts, but also from various cultural fields, such as philosophy, architecture, design and literature. Key positions in Marzona’s Atlas are occupied, for example, by Hans Arp’s and El Lissitzky’s book Die Kunstismen (The Isms of Art), artists such as Marcel Duchamp, Carl Andre and Paul Scheerbart, as well as friends and role models, including Konrad Fischer and Heinz Rasch, with their diverse approaches and influences. 

Together, these pillars of the archive form an atlas – a kind of individual interpretation of 20th century art history through the lens of the collector Marzona. For visitors, the films provide guidance within the ADA. From this core, the structure of the archive fans out through the isms of art in the 20th century. 

The films in this thematic area illustrate the practice behind the Archiv der Avantgarden (ADA). They address aspects of the collection’s methodology and structure, include questions on the documentation of the practice of images, and they present practical decisions relating to the development of the collection and networks. 

The seemingly insignificant photos document the work of the founder, day-to-day operations and activities related to the archive, including trips, hauling books, bagging objects or filing items in the black binders. The films show how the collector found his sources around the world, sorted and systematized the vast amount of material and organized his own library. In the process, fundamental conceptual approaches as well as (art) historical constellations become recognizable behind the apparent banality of everyday life.

The Archiv der Avantgarden (ADA) is comprised of entire collections and estates that Egidio Marzona acquired across four decades from artists, researchers, gallerists and collectors. Many of the people who contributed to today’s ADA have since passed away or are otherwise unavailable for interviews. In the thematic area Archeology of the Collection, the few, often fragmentary and scattered traces from the past that are still available are brought together. 

Egidio Marzona reconstructs the history of individual collections in numerous conversations about people and institutions, including the John Weber Gallery, Klaus Falkenstein, Hans Bolliger, Pierre Restany, Hertha Wescher and Tommaso Trini. The conversations delve into fundamental questions: How did he come to acquire the collections? What connected him with the person in question? What is the significance of the materials both historically and within the context of the ADA? How did the acquisition come about? The conversations provide a portrait of important figures in 20th century art (history) in addition to offering valuable information for future source work and provenance research. 

Egidio Marzona speaks about or with important protagonists from the art world: his colleagues, people who have inspired him and those who share similar passions. He acquired individual objects or entire collections from many of them, and they are able to share their varied backgrounds in conversation. Whether they built up the specific collection themselves or acted as estate executors – they generally have an interest in reflecting on the future of their holdings within the Archiv der Avantgarden (ADA) and to contribute their visions to the archive. The two-fold transformation of the collection is also traced in these conversations: The transition from the respective owners to the collector and, further, to the new institution ADA can be traced in the conversations.

The conversations in Marzona’s Network are mostly dialogues between the collector and the protagonists. To document the places where the events occurred, the conversations, to the degree possible, are held where the material is or was originally located – in the home of the respective collectors, at Marzona’s home in Berlin or at the ADA, for example.

The Marzona Collection in Berlin and the ADA in Dresden date back to the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, when Egidio Marzona built up his network of artists, art dealers and collectors, thus becoming an influential protagonist in the art scene of the time. 

In these videos, important contemporary witnesses speak with the collector about the zeitgeist, historical events, social and political backgrounds and moods, such as the aspirations, dreams and role models of the period, especially the 1968 generation. The conversations document the broad context of a significant historical turning point. 

The title alludes to one of Rosalind Krauss’ most important essays: “Sculpture in the Expanded Field.” In that essay, written in 1979, the theorist and critic developed a new concept of sculpture in view of the fundamentally new artistic works of the time, addressing their complex forms of reflecting the spatial, social, political and historical context. The play on words thereby hints at the upheavals of that time and its art, as well as to the revolutionary character of the archive.