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Silenzio ︎


Nepalese paper, newsprint and papier-mâché
Installation of variable dimensions


Nepalese paper, newsprint and papier-mâché 
Installation of variable dimensions 


It is an installation project in memory of the 308 victims of the L'Aquila earthquake, exhibited at the 54th Venice Biennale – Italy/Abruzzo Pavilion. It consists of 308 bodies made using the papier-mâché technique with newspaper cuttings inside with news about catastrophe. They are all made from a single clay matrix, just as we are all born from Mother-Earth. They are white to symbolize a collective and not an individual identity. They face the walls as if it were the Earth that saw them being born and to which they return. They are made of paper to emphasise the concept of the fragility of human existence and because it is degradable and undergoes changes over time, like the human body.
“Only when you drink from the river of silence shall you indeed sing.
And when you have reached the mountain top, then you shall begin to climb.
And when the earth shall claim your limbs, then shall you truly dance.” -Khalil Gibran (Il Profeta)

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È un progetto installativo in memoria delle 308 vittime del terremoto di L’Aquila, esposto alla 54° Biennale di Venezia - Padiglione Italia/Abruzzo. È costituito da 308 corpi realizzati con la tecnica del papier-mâché con all’interno ritagli di giornale con notizie relative alla catastrofe. Sono nati tutti da un’unica matrice in gesso, come noi nasciamo tutti dalla Madre Terra. Sono di colore bianco a simboleggiare un’identità collettiva e non individuale, e sono rivolti verso la parete come se fosse la Terra a cui tornano e che li ha visti nascere. Sono realizzati in carta per rafforzare il concetto di fragilità dell’esistenza umana e perché è degradabile e subisce i cambiamenti del tempo come il corpo umano.
“Solo se berrete al fiume del silenzio, potrete davvero cantare.
E quando avrete raggiunto la vetta del monte, allora incomincerete a salire.
E quando la terra esigerà il vostro corpo, allora danzerete realmente.”
Khalil Gibran (Il Profeta)







Papier-mâché, newsprint, cotton paper, Nepalese paper
(detail of 308 bodies)








Papier-mâché, newsprint, cotton paper, Nepalese paper
(detail of 308 bodies)








Papier-mâché, newsprint, cotton paper, Nepalese paper
(detail of 308 bodies)



Papier-mâché, newsprint, cotton paper, Nepalese paper
93x28x12 (detail)









Papier-mâché, newsprint, cotton paper, Nepalese paper
(detail of 308 bodies)
54th International Art Exhibition Venice Biennial
Pavilion Italy/Abruzzo
Aurum
Pescara



Papier-mâché, newsprint, cotton paper, Nepalese paper
93x28x12 (detail)








Papier-mâché, newsprint, cotton paper, Nepalese paper
93x28x12 (detail)









Papier-mâché, newsprint, cotton paper, Nepalese paper
(detail of 308 bodies)






Papier-mâché, newsprint, cotton paper, Nepalese paper
(detail of 308 bodies)
54th International Art Exhibition Venice Biennial
Pavilion Italy/Abruzzo
Aurum, Pescara










Papier-mâché, newsprint, cotton paper, Nepalese paper
(detail of 308 bodies)
54th International Art Exhibition Venice Biennial
Pavilion Italy/Abruzzo
Aurum
Pescara