Piccola Patria
/Small Homeland
Piccola Patria (2016)
Glossy paper
52 5/32 x 78 15/15 in.
courtesy Galleria Alessio Moitre, Turin
Residenza Alpina, curated by Arteco (Annalisa Pellino and Beatrice Zanelli), with the collaboration of Casa Museo dell’Alta Valle del Cervo, Rosazza as part of MONTAGNA FEST2016 – Arte in quota, a pathway between change and identity.
“As part of the Residenza Alpina, curated by ARTECO*, I was invited to conduct field research in the Alpine territory of Alta Valle Cervo, also known as La Bürsch: i.e. Small Homeland.
Starting from a reflection on cultural identity as it is perceived by the valley-dwellers, and in particular on the minimal yet ever present variations in the graphemes and phonemes of the dialects between one little village and another, my work aims to highlight the analogy between linguistic boundaries and territorial ones. If it is true that language, like a map, creates limits because naming something means circumscribing it within a specific horizon of meaning that excludes all the rest, then the key word here is frazionismo (fractionism), which at the same time questions its validity inside a territory that is circumscribed. In accordance with the vernacular mindset of the valley-dwellers, I overturned the conventional deictic function of Voi siete qui (You Are Here) into an assertive NÜI I SÚMMA QUI, inflected in the various micro-dialectical forms of the expression” (Irene Dionisio).
Exhibitions
2016 site specific, Residenza Alpina, curated by Arteco, Biella
2018 Youngs Italians, Magazzino Italian Art, curated by Ilaria Bernardi, New York