"Incomunicabilità" Painting

Born in Zadar, former Yugoslavia, in 1947, Paola Bučan began studying the cello at an early age under the guidance of her father, a student of Antonio Janigro. She later continued her musical education in Pesaro and went on to pursue a professional career, serving as principal cellist in several Italian orchestras, most notably the Orchestra della Toscana.

A pivotal moment in her artistic development was her encounter with the composer Boris Porena. Their collaboration proved exceptionally fruitful, as they inspired one another in a shared exploration of the fundamental elements of composition through an approach that Porena would later define as *metacultural*. It was within this framework that Bučan developed a profound interest in graphic composition, which would become a central focus of her artistic research. This marked the beginning of a compositional practice based on thematic cycles employing the same underlying elements (series).

In the mid-1970s, together with Porena, she founded the *Centro di Ricerca e Sperimentazione Metaculturale* (Centre for Metacultural Research and Experimentation). Within this context, she investigated the relationship between compositional practice and semantics, initially in music and gradually extending her research to graphic and pictorial composition. In primary schools, as well as in educational settings throughout Italy, she promoted workshops and projects centred on compositional thinking in both music and the visual arts, engaging students in creative processes developed under her guidance, alongside Porena and other collaborators.

The study of graphic and pictorial composition has remained at the core of Bučan's artistic practice. Over the years, she has explored a wide range of techniques, formats, and materials, organizing her work into thematic series conceived according to rigorous creative principles.

Since the 1980s, her work has been exhibited in numerous venues, including Castagneto Carducci, Labro, Rome, Melegnano, Anzio, and Berlin.

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Nata a Zara, nell’ex-Jugoslavia, nel 1947, intraprende da giovane lo studio del violoncello sotto la guida del padre, allievo di Antonio Janigro. Prosegue poi la formazione a Pesaro e avvia una carriera musicale che la porta a ricoprire il ruolo di primo violoncello in diverse orchestre italiane, in particolare nell’orchestra regionale toscana.