“ VIOLENTIA VIOLENTIAE”
alla memoria di Giulia Cecchettin
Mostra di arti visive a Nocciano(Pescara) nel Castello di Sterlich/ Aliprandi
by Daniela Paties Montagner 22 Novembre 2023 in Cultura, Eventi
This coming 25 November, on the occasion of the 'International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women' in the Artists' Room at the De Sterlich/Aliprandi Castle, home of the 'Museum of the Arts' in Nocciano in the province of Pescara,
the cultural association PESCARART&Co, organised an important collective exhibition entitled 'Violentia Violentiae'. 44 works were exhibited by as many established artists on the national and international scene, each with their own path, level of experience and research.
There are countless episodes of violence perpetrated against women, and Giulia Cecchettin is the 105th victim of the year, barbarously and cruelly slaughtered by her ex-boyfriend Filippo Turetta on 11 November 2023. The International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women was established by the United Nations General Assembly on 17 December 1999 through resolution 54/134, and 25 November is not a causal date because it commemorates the brutal murder that took place in 1960, in the Dominican Republic, where the three Mirabal sisters: Patria, Minerva and Maria Teresa, considered revolutionaries, were tortured and then murdered. And so, since that fateful day, governments around the world and international organisations have been sent to organise activities to raise public awareness of the importance of NON-VIOLENCE against women. As art historian Andrea Viozzi writes in the catalogue 'VIOLENTIA VIOLENTIAE' : "The Nocciano exhibition breaks the silence behind which the violence suffered by women is often concealed, making us reflect on a theme that is unfortunately becoming increasingly topical in the national chronicles and we risk it becoming overblown and a normal habit. The works on display often depict female faces and tell the stories of victims of psychological violence and emotional manipulation, denouncing the more silent abuses that often represent the antechamber to more tragic events culminating in feminicide. The combination of blood and pain is the common thread running through the entire exhibition: the colour of blood marks both the cruelty of the never-ending tragedy of feminicide, and the journey of a woman's own life and experience".
Among the various artists selected for the 'Violentia Violentie' exhibition to mention but a few: Cleonice Gioia with the work ‘Donna with a capital D' (graphic relief); Omar Galliano with 'In viso' (charcoal on canvas); Enrico Manera with 'Stop women violence' (mixed media on paper); Paul Critchley with 'Double self-portrait and still life' (diptych, oil on canvas); Carlo Carletti with 'Sentimenti vilati' (hand-woven with yellow Macò thread); Angela di Giovannantonio with 'Violenza psicologica' (oil on canvas); Massimiliano Di Mattia -Mattyo with 'Sleep' photography; Antonella Di Meo with 'Senza titolo' photography... These are just some of the works on display, all of which can be seen in the exhibition and in the catalogue produced for the occasion, designed by Giancarlo Costanzo, texts by Francesca Benedetta Costanzo, Andrea Viozzi, printed by Palladino Editore in November 2023 (ISBN 978-88-8460-263-3). At the opening of the exhibition "VIOLENTIA VIOLENTIAE"
scheduled for Saturday 25 November 2023 at 6 pm, in addition to numerous civil authorities, personalities, curators of the exhibition and artists, will be present, to name but a few: Marcello Luciano Giordano - Mayor of Nocciano and Deputy Mayor Giovanna Speziale; Antonella Colaninno - art critic and author of the book: Francesca Alinovi; Maria Lucia Colombo - director of the trailer for the film "Yesterday Today Always the Orphan"; Giancarlo Costanzo of the EARTH Group with Alfredo Celli and Fabriano Mariani , and among the artists: Gian Ruggero Manzoni, Paul Critchley, Carlo Carletti , Massimiliano di Mattia Mattyo and others.
And, to quote Andrea Viozzi once again: 'Within the mighty walls of the de Sterlich Castle in Nocciano, the many women portrayed and reproduced by artists and female artists will only truly find protection and confrontation if the exhibition succeeds in inflaming the hearts of visitors, enabling them to grasp at least a fragment of that truth that is too often stifled'.
The exhibition 'VIOLENTIA VIOLENTIAE' will remain open to the public until Sunday, 10 December 2023.
by Daniela Paties Montagner
Featured image: Paul Critchley, Double self-portrait and still life