ISABELLA PERS
PRESENT
2016, video, 9ʻ 29”
Present was held on the trenches of the Dolina dei Cinquecento in the Carso plateau, above the Military Sanctuary of Redipuglia in Friuli Venezia Giulia, my region. This is the italian borderland to the East Europe lacerated by the paths and tunnels made in the First World War and, in 2016, crossed by hundreds of refugees coming from the Balkan Route: men, women and children who undertook unbearably long voyages towards an unknown future in order to escape violence.
I invited some of them together with others who survived the same tragedies in other times, to take part in a shared action in which the union between the place and the thoughts can give rise to an unexplored dimension.
The protagonists are now all inhabitants of my region.
People who witnessed the Second World War, the exodus from Istria, the Balkan war, the Soviet regime, the violence in Congo, in Pakistan, Afghanistan and South America… all were invited to walk along the paths and communication trenches used by the soldiers, tracing the steps of a war that none of them witnessed. They walked out, to gather where only nature has left its mark, and there they shared prayers, words, readings and caring thoughts for a collective vision, looking towards an open passage that is not yet there.
Present meaning a gift. The people who took part in the shared moment gave the testimonies of their experiences as a gift, like a delicate stream of humanity, proceeding with the small steps of each individual, to direct thoughts towards a collective projection.
Present meaning a presence. In many religions and spiritual practices, prayer and caring words are the creation of transformational energy. In this sense the action sought to extend itself to the contemporary world through the momentary disappearance of borders through the comprehension and consonance of the action.
The distance between the different histories, communities and personal experiences of the individuals became a silent choral symphony of steps and places that are now part of history, calling each one of us to question ourselves about the primordial meaning of the meeting.
Previous presentations:
03/05/2016 Casa Cavazzini Museo d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea, Udine
07/05/2016 Vicino/lontano Premio Terzani, Chiesa di San Francesco, Udine
15/07/2017 Villa Manin, Passariano, Udine, Waiting for RAVE. Anticipations of a posthuman time, text by Pietro Gaglianò
08/07/2016 Art Stays festival Politic(s) Ptuj, Slovenia
24/03/2017 aA29 project room, Milano, The Next Flow, solo show, curated by Pietro Gaglianò
18/04/2017 PAC Padiglione Arte Contemporanea Milano, Appello alla Responsabilità
29/09/2017 Festival dell'Internazionale di Ferrara, Sous les pavés, la plage! curated by Daniele Capra and Serena Ribaudo
26/11/2017 Libreria Martincigh, Udine, in collaboration with the project The Power of Parnership, ALL/Università degli Studi di Udine
24/02/2018 Trieste Contemporanea, Trieste, Present, the power of partnership, crisi ambientale e migrazioni forzate
Shooting supervisor: Giorgio Milocco
Production manager: Marco Rossitti
Photography: Giovanni Andreotta, Michele Codarin, Luciano Gaudenzio
Camera assitants: Ambra Maar Marchetto, Michele Traina
Boom operator: Antonio Petris
Aereal photography: Francesco Granbassi, Drone Dreambox Pictures
editing: Andrea Guarascio
produced by Quasar Multimedia and Vulcano unità di produzione contemporanea
realized within the international conference 'The real wealth of Nations' organized by ALL/Università degli Studi di Udine
in collaboration with: Vicino-lontano Premio Terzani
with the support of Regione Autonoma Friuli Venezia Giulia
under the patronage of Comune di Fogliano-Redipuglia
thanks to: all the protagonists, Antonella Riem, Stefania Zanier, the associations Pro Loco Fogliano Redipuglia-Sentieri di Pace, Anpi, Ospiti in Arrivo, Corima, Ngemba-Yenge, Nuovi Cittadini, Casa Cave, Ucai, Cinampa, Circoli ARCI MissKappa e Cas'Aupa, and all the volunteers and friends that collaborated with this project.
