The artistic duo Invernomuto (Simone Bertuzzi and Simone Trabucchi) has subverted the typical way in which exhibitions at Marselleria begin. Visitors do not access the gallery through the main entrance, but via an out-of-the-way door. The walls of the room they first encounter are covered in a reflective, silvery pattern of diamonds. Four blinding grow lights and a hexagonal ceiling lamp continue to dazzle the viewer, while a pile of crates emits a continuous sound, and a video hanging above shows scenes shot in Wondo Genet and Shashamane, Ethiopia—towns sacred to Rastafarians. For instance, one sees hot springs producing a steam that echoes the vapor emitted by a fog machine also in this crowded gallery.
On the top floor, a sculpture made from shaped sheet metal depicts Haile Selassie I. Nearby, another video, this time projected on the wall, shows the Jamaican musician Lee “Scratch” Perry performing in Vernasca, Italy, where the artists live and work. Many Rastafarian communities consider Selassie I to be a messiah, and the frequency of references to him throughout the show sets up a reverberation between events and symbols. For example, Vernasca played a dark role in Italy’s military occupation of Ethiopia under fascism: Upon the return of a local soldier who had been wounded in Africa, the people of the town burned an effigy of Selassie I. Decades later, Invernomuto organized a performance by Perry right in the piazza where the insult had been committed. The entire show is not just a response but also clearly a rebuke, as well as an attempt to purify Vernasca.
Translated from Italian by Marguerite Shore.
