“Altra misura”

“Altra misura” (Another Measure), is an exhibition about diversity and the affirmation of identity beyond roles imposed by cultural and social conventions. The artists in the show, all working in Italy beginning in the 1970s, were protagonists in the women’s liberation movement there, active on various levels: Tomaso Binga, Diane Bond, Lisetta Carmi, Nicole Gravier, Ketty La Rocca, Lucia Marucci, Paola Mattioli, Libera Mazzoleni, Verita Monselles, Anna Oberto, and Cloti Ricciardi. Using photography as an analytical and political tool, they interpret the “difference” (thus “Another Measure”) of the female sex, in the process rejecting Western stereotypes. These artists adopt and modify the language of illustrated magazines, advertising, and photo storybooks, deconstructing their narratives and sentimental values; or they isolate conventional relationships and rituals (such as marriage or pregnancy), calling into question their usual coordinates.

Precisely and elegantly curated by Raffaella Perna, who is also the author of an accompanying publication that will be released on International Women’s Day, the exhibition bears witness to the vitality of a period and an environment in Italian art that has yet to be thoroughly explored but is of great relevance and significance, addressing themes of gender and identity with precocious attention and depth. In subsequent decades, these artists have played a central role in the creative and cultural reflection on the female condition in the world. One example is Ketty La Rocca’s poetic Le mie parole e Tu? (My Words and You?), 1971, whose unforgettable photographic images inhabited and traversed by writing seem to anticipate the works of Shirin Neshat that would come two decades later.

Translated from Italian by Marguerite Shore.