The British School at Rome is delighted to present the final event of its 2024–25 academic year programme: “Presentation of Video Essay: Uncovering the Afterlife of the Italian Empire” with Charles Burdett, Isabella Gaffè, Viviana Gravano, Giulia Grechi.
In a world in which we see mounting nostalgia for fascism and increasing cases of state-sponsored xenophobia, it is more important than ever to develop our understanding of the workings of past authoritarian regimes and how the processes of thought and imagination that they promoted continue to exercise a powerful, though concealed, agency in the present.
The event will present the video essay, Uncovering the Afterlife of the Italian Empire, curated by Viviana Gravano and Giulia Grechi in collaboration with Charles Burdett, and realised by Isabella Gaffè. The video concentrates on the relationship between fascism and expansionism, and explores how different media and the interaction with curators and creative practitioners allows us greater insight into the ongoing legacies of Italian imperialism. The video contains excerpts from unpublished interviews with: writers Gabriella Ghermandi, Francesca Melandri, and Vittorio Longhi; visual artists Wissal Houbabi and Leone Contini; Rossana di Lella, curator of the MUCIV Museum in Rome. The background audio text is accompanied by video excerpts and images taken from works by contemporary Italian and international artists who have addressed the themes of the essay. The sound was created by sound designer Paolo Zappalà.
The video essay is an important output of the AHRC research project on discovering the legacies of Italian colonialism in contemporary Italy (https://ilcs.sas.ac.uk/research-policy-training/research-projects/uncovering-afterlife-italian-empire).
The names of the artists whose work is shown in the video are: Caterina Borelli, Luca Capuano e Camilla Casadei Maldini, Valerio Ciriaci, Leone Contini, DAAR, Fare Ala, Laura Fiorio, Dèlio Jasse, Matteo Guidi, Wissal Houbabi, Andrea Lo Giudice, Salvo Lombardo, MK, Giovanni Morbin, MUCIV_Museo delle Civiltà, Medhin Paolos e Alan Maglio, Esper Postma, Festival Short Theatre_Roma, Tezeta, Sabrina Varani, Marta Vultaggio.
The presentation and showing of the video essay will be followed by discussion on how modes of co-production that enhance the collaboration between creative practitioners, curators, researchers, and writers can be pursued.
Charles Burdett is Professor of Italian and Director of the Institute of Languages, Cultures and Societies (School of Advanced Study, University of London). The principal areas of his research are literary culture under Fascism; travel writing; the Italian colonial presence in Libya and East Africa and its legacies; theories of inter-cultural contact; the representation of Islam and the Islamic world in recent Italian literature and culture.
Isabella Gaffè is a video editor, video operator and project manager for culture, graduated from DAMS in Bologna. Her work has always revolved around the world of performing arts, cinema and video. She produces documentary and creative video works, collaborating with artists, performers, dance and theatre companies, and cultural institutions, including: Routes Agency_cura of Contemporary Arst, Chiasma Arti e Culture contemporanee, NON Museo Katrièm, Federculture, ATCL Lazio, Festival OrienteOccidente, Mart di Rovereto, Fondazione Volume, Ied Roma, Centro Sperimentale di Fotografia di Roma,Fondazione Cineteca di Bologna.
Viviana Gravano is a curator and contemporary art historian based in Bologna. She teaches at the Academy of Fine Arts in Florence. She is a founding member of the collective that runs the online magazine roots§routes research on visual cultures, and co-founder of Attitudes_Spazio alle arti (aps) in Bologna. She has published: (with Giulia Grechi) Presente Imperfetto. Eredità coloniali e immaginari razziali contemporanei, Mimesis, Milano 2016; Paesaggi attivi Saggio contro la contemplazione, Mimesis, Milano 2012; Food Show. Expo 2015. Una scommessa interculturale persa, Mimesis, Milano 2016; Di-scordare. Ricerche artistiche contemporanee sulle eredità del fascismo in Italia, DeriveApprodi, Bologna 2024.
Giulia Grechi is Professor of Cultural Anthropology (Academy of Fine Arts, Naples). She is interested in post/ decolonial studies, with a focus on the cultural legacies of colonialism and contemporary arts. She co-founded the online magazine roots§routes research on visual cultures and the curatorial collective Attitudes_spazio alle arti. She recently published Decolonizzare il museo. Mostrazioni, pratiche artistiche, sguardi incarnati (Mimesis, 2021) and Disimparare. Politiche, poetiche, immaginazioni altre (Gli Ori, 2024).
Free entrance. This event is in-person only.
