FIAT 127 Secial (Camaleonte) I 2018 in progress

DRIVE I 2020 in progress

Using a Fiat 127 Special — renamed Chameleon for its ability to change colors based on location — Cristian Chironi sets out on a trail inspired by relationships with different cities. The Fiat 127 Chameleon is customized according to the color combinations typical of the homes of Le Corbusier; an “architectural” keyboard, designed following the rules of color compresence to be matched as if they were sounds. Le Corbusier’s slogan “a house is a machine for living” reappears manipulated.

The decision to utilize a Fiat 127 is tied to the story of Sardinian artist Costantino Nivola and his friendship and collaboration with Le Corbusier. Both Chironi and Nivola set out from their small hometown of Orani, albeit in different eras, returning only after a series of meetings and encounters in the world that alter their views on living. The basis of the project has its roots in an anecdote told to Chironi by Daniele, nephew of Costantino Nivola, who received a letter from him sent from the United States at the beginning of the eighties. At that time ill and residing in Long Island, Nivola asks Daniele to go to Tuscany and bring back to Orani some items belonging to the artist. Daniele finds sculptures and sketches by Nivola, works by other great artists, and a Fiat 127. Fitting what he can into the car and embarking on the journey back to Orani, Daniele is aware that he transports only a small portion of that patrimony — both physical and cultural.

Years after Daniele’s voyage, Chironi reuses the same car with an artistic and performative gesture made of departures and returns, generational correspondences, and visions from the car window. In performance, the artist himself drives the car in a journey of reflection; his research investigating what the Fiat brought back — a material legacy, but also a symbolic passing of the torch — a provocation to ‘go’ and be a resident of the world.

This iteration of Drive takes place throughout the city. Each performance will be open to three members of the public that will join Chironi and a selection of diverse co-pilots. Selected from the local community, co-pilots will include architects, musicians, urban planners, actors, curators, journalists, activists, and philanthropists. Each co-pilot will mobilize their vision of the city to engage passengers in a conversation and help shed light on the route. Drive will focus on the concept of living explored through different perspectives: ‘living’ a house, a car, a work of art, a city, a landscape, the view from a car window.

Each destination is thought of as a privileged vantage point inside the cabin, a traveling platform for meetings and conversation that invites the public to join in on a moment of in-person dialogue and exchange. Drive creates a map that highlights the specific stratification of the city’s geography and local history. It deals with the notions of habitat and home, and underscores issues of mobility in relation to economic stability, health crises, and global politics. Departing from a personal history related to the artist’s hometown, the project unites participants in a shared experience and invites them to reflect on themes ranging from migration and memory to home-building and sense of place.

From the car stereo plays My sound is a Le Corbusier, a series of sound compositions recorded inside Le Corbusier’s houses and created in collaboration with various musicians: Francesco Brasini, Chœur de Radio France, Alessandro Bosetti, Massimo Carozzi, Dominique Vaccaro, Daniela Cattivelli, and Henrik Svedlund. These are joined by additional tracks composed specifically for the Chameleon by Francesco Serra, Luciano Maggiore, Stefano Pilia, Sophie Vitelli, Paolo Fresu, Pietro Russino, Gavino Murgia, Marino Formenti, and most recently, Tunisian composer Dhafer Youssef.

 

Performances

 

Tunis (2026)
Produced by: La Boîte – Centre d’Art & d’Architecture; Italian Cultural Institute of Tunis and Embassy of Italy in Tunis; Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC). In collaboration with: Fondation Le Corbusier (Paris); Association Tunisienne de Recherche en Architecture (ATRA); École Nationale d’Architecture & Urbanisme (ENAU); Institut des Hautes Études Commerciales de Carthage (IHEC Carthage)

Turin (2024) — Turin Drive
Produced by: MAUTO – National Automobile Museum, TurinNuoro (2023) —

Nuoro Drive
Produced by: MAN Museum

Prato (2023) — Prato Drive
Produced by: ChorAsis – Exhibition SpaceBergamo &

Brescia (2022) — Bergamo Brescia Drive
Produced by: Teatro Grande Brescia; Pio Manzù Foundation

New York (2021) — New York Drive
Produced by: Magazzino Italian Art Museum. In collaboration with: Consulate General of Italy in New York; Italian Cultural Institute New York; Municipality of Springs; Municipality of Cold Spring.

Orani,Mamoiada, Orgosolo, Ottana (2021) — Barbagia Drive
Produced by: Festival Abitare Connessioni; In collaboration with: Directorate-General for Contemporary Creativity of the Italian Ministry of Culture; Municipalities of Orani, Mamoiada, Orgosolo, and Ottana; Fondazione di Sardegna

La Chaux-de-Fonds (2020) — La Chaux-de-Fonds Drive
Produced by: far° festival des arts vivants Nyon; Association Maison Blanche – Le Corbusier; Ville de La Chaux-de-Fonds; Canton de Neuchâtel; Loterie Romande; Collection Fustinoni. In collaboration with: Musée des beaux-arts de La Chaux-de-Fonds; Centre de culture ABC; Conservatoire de musique neuchâtelois; Fondation Le Corbusier (Paris); MAMbo – Museum of Modern Art Bologna; Nivola Foundation; Association des sites Le Corbusier

Bolzano (2020) — Bolzano Drive
Produced by: Museion – Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art; In collaboration with: AMACI (Association of Italian Contemporary Art Museums); Faculty of Design and Art of the Free University of Bozen-Bolzano; City of Bolzano

Marseille (2020) — Marseille Drive
Produced by: Manifesta 13 Marseille (Les Parallèles du Sud); Fondazione di Sardegna; AR/S Arte Condivisa in Sardegna; Andrea Boghi Collection (Brescia); Librairie Imbernon; Les Couleurs® Le Corbusier; Kabe Farben. In collaboration with: Association des habitants de l’Unité d’Habitation Le Corbusier de Marseille; Fondation Le Corbusier (Paris); MAMbo – Museum of Modern Art Bologna;

Nivola Museum (Orani); Pierre Jeanneret Museum (Chandigarh); Casa Curutchet (La Plata); Ville de Marseille; Préfet de la région Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur; Département des Bouches-du-Rhône

Orani (2019) — Orani Drive
Produced by: Department of Culture of the Municipality of Orani

Milan (2019) — Milano Drive
Produced by: FOG Triennale Milano Performing Arts. In collaboration with: Fondazione ICA Milano

Bologna (2019) — Bologna Drive (Oplà. Performing Activities)
Produced by: Arte Fiera; Xing Bologna. In collaboration with: Municipality of Bologna

 

• Exhibitions (Installation Mode)

 

• 2026 — La Boîte – Centre d’Art & d’Architecture, Tunis
  2024 — MAUTO – National Automobile Museum, Turin
  2023 — ChorAsis – Exhibition Space, Villa Seghi Rospigliosi, Prato
  2022 — Morton Street Partners, Manhattan,
  2021 — Magazzino Italian Art, Cold Spring
  2020 — Museion, Bolzano
  2020 — Unité d’Habitation (Manifesta 13 – Le Parallel du Sud), Marseille
  2019 — Fondazione ICA (in collaboration with FOG Triennale), Milan
  2018 — Ex Dogana / Former Customs Palace (in collaboration with Superintendency for Archaeology, Fine Arts and Landscape of Verona, Rovigo, Vicenza; Fiera di Verona), Verona
  2018 — Marsèlleria Permanent Exhibition, Milan
  2018 — Nivola Museum, Orani

 

• Selected Group & Solo Exhibitions

 

• 2026 — La Boîte – Centre d’Art & d’Architecture, Tunis
  2025 — CAMERA – Centro Italiano per la Fotografia, Turin
  2024 — MAUTO – National Automobile Museum, Turin
  2024 — Italian Cultural Institute of Mexico City
  2023 — MAN – Museum of Art of the Province of Nuoro
  2023 — Villa Seghi Rospigliosi, Prato
  2022 — Art Omi, Ghent, New York
  2022 — Morton Street Partners, Manhattank
  2021 — Italian Cultural Institute, Montreal
  2020 — Unité d’Habitation / Librairie Imbernon, Marseille
  2018 — Marsèlleria Permanent Exhibition, Milan
  2018 — Nivola Museum, Orani