Francesco Bertocco: Breaking the Circuit of Control

Italian artist Francesco Bertocco is presenting his solo exhibition Breaking the Circuit of Control at Monfort Gallery in Portorož, Slovenia, until August 23, 2026. The project, curated by Gabi Scardi, explores the work and influence of Italian psychiatrist and psychiatric reformer Franco Basaglia, focusing in particular on Basaglia's visit to Brazil in the late 1970s and the impact of his ideas on psychiatric reform and institutional transformation. 

Gabi Scardi, the project currator wrote:

»Having always been interested in the history of medicine and methods of treatment, Bertocco focuses on the figure, the thinking, the methods and the influence of Franco Basaglia, the intellectual and reformer of modern psychiatry. Active in Italy from the 1960s until his death in 1980, Basaglia’s tireless efforts spurred the emergence of an anti-asylum movement and a radical re-evaluation of the notion that psychiatric illness was dangerous, as well as of treatments based on restraint.

In 1978–79, the international resonance of his activism took him to Brazil. Breaking the Circuit of Control focuses on this experience.«

The exhibition features fifteen large-format photographs and a video installation created during Bertocco's intensive research and fieldwork in Brazil in 2025, offering a visual reflection on memory, institutional history and contemporary mechanisms of control. Alongside the exhibition, Piran Coastal Galleries have developed an extensive public programme exploring the themes addressed in the artist's work and the research and exhibition project unfolding between Europe and Brazil.

The project Breaking the Circuit of Control is supported by the Directorate-General for Contemporary Creativity of the Italian Ministry of Culture under the Italian Council program (13th edition, 2024).

The project will continue this autumn in Ljubljana. On September 12, 2026, from 10:00 to 12:00, the auditorium of the Museum and Galleries of Ljubljana (MGML) will host a discussion with Francesco Bertocco and Prof. Vito Flaker, PhD, prominent scholar, editor and author of the foreword to the selection of Basaglia's texts, translated in slovene and published in 2026. The talk will be moderated by Tina Jazbec, curator at OGP. The discussion will focus on Basaglia's work, its significance and legacy in Brazil, Slovenia and beyond, expanding the project's interdisciplinary framework and encouraging dialogue between contemporary art, philosophy and psychoanalytic thought. The event is organised in collaboration with Založba /*cf. – Institute for Publishing and Research Activities, Ljubljana, and will be followed by a screening of the film O Homem no Pelourinho.

Later that day, at 18:00, Galerija Fotografija at Centre Rog in Ljubljana will host the opening of a touring exhibition from Monfort Gallery, featuring photographs taken in Brazil and the documentary film. The opening will also mark the launch of the exhibition catalogue, published by Humboldt Books, Milan.

The project's international programme will continue in Gdańsk, Paris, Ticino, Milan and Rovereto, prompting further reflection on the links between contemporary art, psychoanalysis, institutional memory and society.

The documentary film will continue its international journey on September 6, 2026, at 18:00 in Gdańsk, where the Instytut Kultury Miejskiej will host a screening and discussion with the project curator, Gabi Scardi, and the IKM curator, Agnieszka Kulazińska-Grobis. The event will provide an opportunity to present the project and to explore topics related to the perception of mental illness and to the concept of infrastructure and its conditioning role.

On October 3, 2026, at 18:00, the documentary film will be presented in Paris in collaboration with Emanuele Quinz (Université Paris 8) and artist and professor Bernhard Rüdiger (ENSBA Lyon) at the Association Quai de la Loire. Conceived as a gathering of artists, curators, researchers, and members of Paris's independent cultural and subcultural scene, the event will also bring together professors and academics working in France.

In October 2026, the project will also be hosted in the Canton of Ticino, Switzerland, thanks to the project's partnership with CARL centre. Francesco Bertocco and Gabi Scardi will present the project in relation to art, institutional transformation and community care, inspired by the principles of Franco Basaglia's psychiatric reform.

The dissemination programme will continue in Italy in autumn 2026. A multidisciplinary public presentation will be take place on October 15 at Fondazione ICA Milano with Francesco Bertocco, Gabi Scardi and Giovanna Silva. Later in winter, the Mart – Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art of Trento and Rovereto will host a public talk to accompany the acquisition of Breaking the Circuit of Control for the museum's permanent collection. Dates will be announced by Septemeber 20, 2026

The project publication, commissioned by Piran Coastal Galleries and edited by Gabi Scardi, will be published and distributed by Humboldt Books Milano. It brings together essays and critical contributions by Mara Ambrožič Verderber, Ana Gonçalves Magalhães, Camilla Caglioti, Elielton Ribeiro Rodrigues, Ernesto Venturini, Francesco Bertocco, Gabriella Rebello Kolandra, Mariagrazia Muscatello, Marlon Miguel, Maria Stella Brandão Goulart and Tina Jazbec.

In 2025, an extensive programme of activities was also carried out in Brazil, where Francesco Bertocco conducted his artistic research and produced the photographic and video works that form part of the project. As part of the international dissemination programme, public presentations were held at the Museu de Arte Osório Cesar (Juqueri) and the Museum of Contemporary Art of the University of São Paulo (MAC USP). These events reconnected the project with the institutions that inspired the research while fostering dialogue with local audiences and professional communities.

The project brings together field research, exhibitions, film screenings, discussions and research, creating a transnational platform for reflection on the historical transformation of psychiatric and cultural institutions and on the future of museums as open civic spaces. Through its international programme, Breaking the Circuit of Control opens a critical dialogue on the relationship between art, institutional memory and the future of inclusive cultural spaces.