When There Is No More Music to Write is the first solo exhibition in an Italian institution dedicated to the work of Éric Baudelaire. The project takes shape from the encounter between the French artist’s cinematic research and the artistic and personal journey of the composer Alvin Curran, a central figure in international musical experimentation and a key player in a cultural era that found one of its most fertile environments in Rome during the 1960s and 1970s. Rather than taking the form of a biographical portrait or historical reconstruction, the exhibition creates a space for dialogue between images, sounds and documents, exploring the way in which artistic practices take shape through relationships, contexts and collective processes of cultural production.

At the heart of the exhibition lies the film trilogy When There Is No More Music to Write (2022), produced by Baudelaire using his own Super 8 footage along with a trove of found footage and archival material, sound recordings and a series of interviews with Alvin Curran. The film explores the processes of improvisation that underpin the composer’s work, embracing its openness and collaborative nature rather than taking the form of a documentary or direct testimony.

Centred around the filmic core, the exhibition unfolds through a selection of archival materials collected and organised by music historian Maxime Guitton, a series of graphic works by Baudelaire, and an improvisation concert by Alvin Curran, with Angelo Farro. Photographs, scores, objects and traces of his working process are presented as elements of a living archive, capable of reawakening a cultural imagination and conveying the complexity of an artistic period grounded in collaboration, experimentation and a deep desire for new political and artistic forms.
The exhibition takes the shape of an open framework that unfolds over time through the dialogue between the works, the archive and the public, bringing to light the process-oriented nature of Baudelaire’s research.

On this occasion, Fondazione ICA Milano renews its significant institutional collaboration with Fondazione Prada, which will present three films by Éric Baudelaire as part of the autumn film programme at Cinema Godard throughout October. The final screening, scheduled for 25 October 2026, will be followed by a Q&A with the artist and Alberto Salvadori, Director of ICA Milano, introduced by Chiara Costa, Fondazione Prada’s Head of Programs.

Fondazione ICA Milano would like to thank Banca Intesa Sanpaolo, the Foundation’s official sponsor, Valsoia and Enel for their support of ICA Milano’s programme and activities.

The exhibition Éric Baudelaire. When There Is No More Music to Write is supported by Eni s Main Partner.

The exhibition Éric Baudelaire. When There Is No More Music to Write is made possible thanks to Trampoline, Association in support of the French art scene, Paris.

We thank Fondazione Prada for its collaboration on the occasion of the exhibition Éric Baudelaire. When There Is No More Music to Write.