A few impressions of the wonderful exhibition of Marinella Senatore We rise by lifting others in the Stuck Villa Munich.
At the beginning already very impressive to enter this large, beautiful bright hall, which the artist has arranged for dancing. On the floor the dance floor is drawn with winding dark paths. On the ceiling a colorful chandelier with the words Dance first, think later. The entire room radiates colorful cheerfulness, the walls are decorated with collages, with subjects of dancing people, mostly women, but also men. Only a closer look reveals their critical or provocative subject matter. Gold, glamour and color, photographs and lettering surround the dance floor like a stage set with the actual main character: an audience that is supposed to dance. Marinella Senatore's thesis is that dancing helps against sadness.
There are several video stations that provide instructions for simple dance choreographies. One can rehearse these using headphones, easy step sequences and movements. The School of Narrative Dance is one of the formats in which Marinella Senatore invites the public to participate, which she realised in 30 cities. Workshops, performances and parades address the physicality, commonality and politics of the street. The artist has also collaborated with Pussy Riot.
Objects and banners from protest and dance actions are part of the exhibition. I am going to make everything beautiful around me, reads a velvet banner.
Masterful is the video "Nui simu" ("We are"), developed with 30 Sicilian miners and students from the University of Catania and Madrid. The city community was also involved. The video shows excerpts from the selection process and conversations with the actors, highlights of life stories and scenes of how what was told was put on film. Drawings of Dante's "Divine Comedy" are interwoven and make references to present-day hell places. The mine in Enna was not shut down until the late 20th century.
The interviews illuminate where these people came from, what they did. Many have spent their entire lives in the same village. Different age groups are represented. Pictures of life paths emerge that have few points of reference for many Central Europeans living in urban contexts today. There are people who have never left their birthplace and have spent their lives under the most difficult working conditions, and yet have seen so much in their lives. Impressively unpathetic realized, and the people are shown in their strength and at the same time their touchability and individuality.
It is shocking to see the exploitative systems in which these people were trapped.
One does not want to imagine how the mine owners lived. And in addition, the eerie thought creeps in that - unfortunately, of course, one knows - these scenes are not a thing of the past.One knows intellectually how exploitative systems work and that they are widespread worldwide.But they are rarely as palpable as they are here, in this multi-layered yet accessible art.
All very thought-provoking, fantastically realized visually, very engaging, with tremendous depth.
This largest exhibition to date of the Italian artist is a joint project of Villa Stuck and the Museum der Moderne Salzburg.
The exhibition in Munich is only available until September 10th.
https://www.villastuck.de/programm/detail/marinella-senatore
The Exhibition in Salzburg until October 8th.
https://www.museumdermoderne.at/ausstellungen/detail/marinella-senatore-we-rise-by-lifting-others/