Between December 12th and 15th, the city of São Paulo will unite theater, dance, performance and visual arts in the 4th edition of the Contemporary Italian Scene Week (Scena), with performances by young and emerging artists from Italy.
The event at Sesc Belenzinho is curated by Rachel Brumana and produced by the SÙ Association of Culture and Education, in a partnership between the Italian Institute of Culture of São Paulo and Sesc SP, and takes place as part of the celebrations for 150 years of Italian immigration to Brazil, focusing on the work of young creators from the south of the European country, such as Naples, Sicily and Sardinia.
In an interview with ANSA, Brumana highlights that the initiative was born “from the idea of talking about a contemporary Italy”, through “living arts”, such as dance, performance and theater.
“Dance is a centuries-old tradition, both classical and modern. And Italy is currently one of the countries in Europe that stands out the most,” said the curator. The program includes the shows “Vanitas” and “Cloud,” which intertwine classical themes and references, such as post-Renaissance European painting, with contemporary, media-based and ephemeral imagery.
The first revisits the history of Italian painting and engages with the present by questioning vanity. In it, three young Italian dance artists – Giovanfrancesco Giannini (Naples), Fabio Novembrini (Sicily) and Roberta Racis (Sardinia) – use projections and references from works, mixing them with their own images.
“Cloud”, a solo by Giannini, combines the artist’s gestures with a mixture of projections from the internet, from various locations, and from his personal collection, with the aim of dialoguing with images and the media element to propose a reflection on the concept of archive, especially the digital one, which is a kind of personal memory outside the body.
According to Brumana, the theme is important because it addresses the issues of this “media world from the point of view of a young generation, who grew up and lived within this universe, but do not normalize it” and even question it, including the exposure of their own image.
“Today, the internet and social networks no longer belong to one culture; they unite different peoples within a language that we are still trying to understand,” said the curator.
According to Brumana, the three "gems" participating in the event in São Paulo represent regions with a rich cultural tradition, even though the cities in southern Italy are further away from major production centers in the sector, such as Rome and Milan.
The show “Vanitas” will be shown on December 12th and 13th, at 20pm, and “Cloud”, on the 14th, at 20pm, and 15th, at 17pm. Tickets cost from R$18 to R$60. (HANDLE)
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