Arte Povera, which means 'poor art', was an Italian art movement of the late 1960s/early 1970s which celebrated humble, everyday materials. The term was coined by the Italian critic and curator Germano Celant in 1967 to describe a loose group of artists who emerged in a number of Italian cities, including Milan, Turin and Rome, and whose experiments with soil, branches and rags challenged the traditions of a commodified art world.
Key artists associated with the movement include Jannis Kounellis, Mario Merz, Alighiero Boetti, Giuseppe Penone, Luciano Fabro and Michelangelo Pistoletto.
