The Maddalena neighborhood is a manifold part of the historical center of Genova, due to its diverse social composition, to the condition of its buildings, to the nature of its spaces. It's a neighborhood where the process of "gentrification" that has affected other parts of the historical city has not arrived yet, a melting pot of different nationalities and activities - legal and illegal - by many regarded as an area "to avoid". In fact, not only many souls coexist there, but it has also plenty of initiatives, active presences, a sense of belonging, a desire of care as well as of redemption.
The
five-day of la
Ville Ouverte II
workshop were a way to approach these realities, being aware of the
difficulty to fully understand equilibria and very delicate and
complex situations in such a limited time.
A12
has proposed to the invited artists to follow a path that started
from an urban exploration and a confrontation with the material
nature of the neighborhood and the immaterial world of stories that
span it. Asking to do a job arising, first of all, from their
personal discovery of this part of town. Fokus Grupa and Christian
Tripodina have observed, listened to and collected objects, stories
and impressions, and this was the starting point of the art projects
they have developed, dialoguing with A12. The proposed works are two
personal interpretations of this part of the city and of its
characters. They are the outcome of the interaction between the
artists' biographies and approaches, the meetings and discussions
made and what the place has conveyed in these days.
For
Christian Tripodina, artist from Genoa, it has been necessary to look
from a different point of view at an already known reality. The
discovery of a postcard in the Maddalena's church, which gives its
name to the neighborhood, with images reminiscent of will o' the
wisps and the reference to a news item concerning an arson, have
suggested a reflection on the double value - destructive and
purifying - of the fire and the production of a video titled "Only
death brought me on a hill"
which shows a "silent night ceremony" in which a faint
streak of fire has covered some streets in the neighborhood: "a
restrained way to reclaim the awareness of the place itself through a
simple gesture."
For
Iva Kovac & Elvis Krstulovic (aka Fokus Grupa) the presence of
children, observed while playing an afternoon in Piazza Cernaia, has
inspired a project trough which to make explicit the dichotomy
between the external image of Maddalena neighborhood as a "closed"
and "dangerous" area, significantly different from the
image that its inhabitants have. The two Croatian artists have
involved local children, giving them instructions and guiding them to
stage, in a playful and necessarily approximate way, the group
choreographies for the celebration of an imaginary state. The video
"La Maddalena. A Rehearsal for statesmanship," working on
the boundary between stage fiction and educational workshop, explores
the concepts of order and disorder, community and government,
openness and insecurity.
La Ville Ouverte 2
La Ville Ouverte 2
