URBAN LANDSCAPES – the Digital Museum of Memory in Rome
The memory of Rome in a multimedia platform. To complete the project, a dedicated catalog will be presented in the spring that will tell the story of the experience
Starting from Torpignattara, Tor Bella Monaca, Corviale and Trullo, Valeriana Berchicci (Termoli, 1987) collected, from June to November 2021, some memories of the inhabitants of these neighborhoods to build a virtual map of Roman identity. He then took shape the project URBAN LANDSCAPES – Digital Museum of Memory. It starts from the periphery “From the Greek perí (around) fereia (to bring), that part that surrounds, which revolves around the historic center” because only through the union between center and periphery “The prism of the contemporary city is built” as the curator writes, Benedetta Carpi De Resmini. In November the project continued its path with a stop atAcademy of Fine Arts of Rometo expand the map and collect the stories of a central district of the city.The project was developed after obtaining the funding made available by the regional call for “Lazio Contemporaneo, 2020”. It was created in collaboration with the CAP – Cities Art Projects association and made use of the patronage of ARTER, the Territorial Company for Public Residential Construction.
URBAN LANDSCAPES: VALERIANA BERCHICCI’S PROJECT
After an initial exploratory phase aimed at getting to know the neighborhoods, the artist created a wooden newsstand, modeled on an old nineteenth-century newsstand: the latter became the workstation from which to listen and record the stories of the inhabitants. of the suburbs.Valeriana Berchicci he also organized collage workshops for children and photo-geographical walks. On this occasion, she opted for the use of disposable machines, in such a way as to encourage the participants to “photograph blindly”, without having the immediate impact of the compositional result of the image. The collected documents were then uploaded to a website created ad hoc where you can find an interactive map of the city of Rome. By moving the cursor on the map it is possible to access numerous audio-visual contents. Not only can you listen to the stories and mnemonic testimonies of the residents … the user also has the opportunity to realize the realization of the museum of memory, uploading a personal audio file and giving “A different and heterogeneous history of this city”.“The project stems from a combination: on the one hand, the idea of creating a museum of collective memory – at the Museorio of André Malraux -, on the other, my interest in an urban investigation linked to the inspired concept of Imagination. The portrait of Rome could only be sketched by digging in depth, looking at the processes of memory formation, approaching a reading that is not horizontal but vertical: the city fabric is obtained thanks to the collection of voices, memories and testimonies. You get a true and radical vision of the landscape, not a simple overview “explains Carpi De Resmini.
THE CITYSCAPES DIGITAL PLATFORM
“Metropolitan Rome is not a map: Rome is stratification, gentrification, migration, hospitality, integration, mutuality, imagination, reactivation”, is the phrase that accompanies the online visitor to the discovery of the platform. Moving the cursor on the city map, you come across the yellow circular areas that represent the areas where Valeriana Berchicci carried out her investigation: Corviale “Reactivation”, Trullo “Imagination”, Tor Bella Monaca “Mutuality”, Torpignattara “Integration”. Browsing the site, a system of verbal testimonies seasoned by is finally revealed shade of popular wisdom. In Torpignattara, for example, Mrs. Cecilia Troili – appreciates the solidarity of the neighbors who take care of the green space, “look after it”, even if the neighborhood is not in the best conditions; a “Spartacus” story confides a childhood memory: “At dusk, I fell from the fifth floor of a building”landing unscathed on a mountain of pozzolana. To complete the project, the catalog dedicated to this artistic experience will be presented in the spring. Publisher from the Iacobelli publishing house, it will have an introductory text by the editor and contributions by Cecilia CasoratiDirector of the Academy of Fine Arts in Rome ed Elena Giulia Rossiteacher and art critic.
–Giorgia Basili
Art events in progress in Rome