The exhibition, which is part of an extensive cycle of international presentations in public and private spaces, marks the culmination of a project designed to create a three-act opera made especially for the cinema. Over a period lasting longer than a year, the artist sought to involve a cast of over 20,000 participants in three countries. The opera was produced by three different international institutions: the Kunstlerhaus Bethanien in Berlin, the Quad Museum in Derby and the Matadero in Madrid.

Perfect Lives, the first chapter of the operatic trilogy, featured the simultaneous participation of hundreds of people, with the help of local newspapers and radio stations and an invitation addressed to schools, an orchestra of retired bus drivers, professional actors and dancers as well as amateurs, associations and organisations that are active in the districts of Kreuzberg and Neukölln. everyone contributed through their own wealth of skills, both during the drafting of the libretto and in the production and making of the film.

The communications strategies and methodologies applied to each chapter were gradually modified over time and in accordance with the context. For the second act entitled The Attic, greater importance was therefore attached to the involvement of the audience, given that as many as 15,000 people were trained through free workshops (music for films, stage movement, editing, sound, directing, writing, etc.) given by experts, teachers and specialist technicians in the city of Derby which enabled them to take on specific roles in the creation of the opera.

During this phase, as in the subsequent one in Madrid, the process went on autonomously through the community that had been created. The artist decided to make the set and the equipment completely available to local organisations, private citizens, amateur theatrical groups, activists, film makers, associations, students, teachers and artists who made use of the facilities in the weeks following the making of the film.

Lastly, in Spain, during the last chapter of the trilogy entitled Public Opinion Descends Upon the Demonstrators, it is the process itself that constitutes the exhibition at Matadero, encouraging the participation of the public in writing, screenplay, casting, workshops, etc. An alternative socio-political dynamic is therefore adopted by the community for a period during which the artist presents herself as an “activator” of collaborative processes. She uses memories, experiences and encounters which become material that can be rewritten as a mixture of reality and fiction. Aggregation is therefore a way of constructing an alternative social model on the basis of sharing and exchanging skills; this takes place thanks to new teaching methodologies created using local resources and by encouraging exchange between participants in different countries through different forms of participation: these range from emancipation to inclusion, to sharing and self-education.

The exhibition at the Galleria Umberto Di Marino features a large bookcase-archive in the first room which provides a glimpse of the skyline of the typical urban architecture of Derby in the background. It contains part of the material gathered during the key phases of the work, as well as drawings, sketches and texts that reformulate the experience from the artist’s personal viewpoint. The second room has two large paintings on wooden pedestals providing the background for musicians of a local band which, on the opening day, will perform music based on the soundtrack of the video.

The third room will be devoted to the projection of Rosas, which has so far been made in four languages: German, English, Spanish and English sign language (with the help of about 1000 deaf people who volunteered their services). However, on certain agreed days, in line with the desire for an open-minded approach towards the host city, which was a feature of the previous phases of the project, cultural and youth associations, teachers at the university and the Academy of Fine Arts, film makers and private citizens will alternate in the same room specially equipped for the occasion for the entire period of the exhibition. The intended result is to create a spontaneous programme of presentations, performances, projections, talks and meetings. This will provide a chance for a wider and participatory debate, once more renegotiating the function of a cultural and international platform which is open to the local context.

Umberto Di Marino Gallery
Via Alabardieri, 1
Naples 80121 Italy
Tel. +39 081 0609318
Fax +39 081 2142623
info@galleriaumbertodimarino.com
www.galleriaumbertodimarino.com

Opening hours
From Monday to Saturday
3.00 pm - 8.00 pm and in the morning by appointment