MADONNING is a performative work involving about 100 women from the city of Venice. The assumption was an explicit sense of sharing of the participants in this project. It comes from the desire to investigate the strong ties that hold a city together, giving it substance and meaning. The project started with women who are the main and undervalued builders of these bonds and from the question: “Who do you refer to, who are you grateful to in your city?”. The women named were also interviewed afterwards and in turn they indicated others who opened new paths and encounters in the city, like the branches of a tree.

MADONNING’s journey, carried out first in Mestre and then in Venice, has collected many interviews, videos, photographs, digital elaborations, photographic portraits of people and places, poetic texts, memories and letters, a work that has therefore become increasingly participated and shared.

The project culminates with the creation of 14 enamel portraits on canvas of some of the most named women in the interviews. Each portrait is accompanied by a photo and a sentence that the person portrayed has thought to be transcribed on the painting as a message to the viewer.

People who participated in the project:

 

ASSUNTA CUOZZO, curator and art critic
NELDA PETTENO’, actress
ANTONELLA BARINA, poet and publisher
PIA MIANI, architect and photographer
ANNA PALMA GASPARRINI, politician
RAFFAELLA TOFFOLO, fotografa
BEATRICE TABOGA, joga teacher
GIORGIA POLLASTRI, poet and planner
NADIA LUCCHESI, philosopher
SARA CAMPESAN, visual artist
MARIA TERESA CRISIGIOVANNI, photographer
LUANA ZANELLA, politician
RENATA CIBIN, politician and actress
FIORENZA CAMUFFO, art collector
FRANCA TRENTIN, historical
LIA FINZI, politician
NURIA NONO, curator fondazione L.Nono
LAURA LUZZATTO, poet
TIZIANA AGOSTINI, politician and writer
SUSANNA REGAZZONI, university professor and researcher
LUIGIA PAGNIN, politician an poet
GABRIELLA CAMOZZI, public employee
MARIA MORGANTI, visual artist
SIVA KRAUSS, gallerist
ROSSANA PAPINI, event planner
MICHELA SCIBILIA, graphic designer and author of Venetian guides
FIORA GANDOLFI HERRERA, artist, writer and photographer
MARISA CODOLO, public library employee
FRANCESCA BRANDES, poetess and art critic
ANTONELLA SACCAROLA, director and theater writer
VERONICA SCARPA, public employee
FRANCA CALTAROSSA, public employee and cultural promoter
LUCIANA DE FANTI, coreographer and dance teacher
MARIA TERESA SEGA, historic and writer
ELISABETTA MENEGHEL, public employee
CRISTINA FRANZINI, psychologist
DELIA MURER, politician
NICOLETTA BORTOLUSSI, commercial promoter
ANNA MEDICI, doctor
MATILDE DOLCETTI, director of the International School of Graphic
ELISA CAPITANIO, public employee
ANNA PONTI, promoter of links between associations and citizens
TIZIANA PLEBANI, historic and and manager of preservation Marciana Nationa Library
GIULIANA LONGO, owner of a hat store
CHIARA BERTOLA, curator of the Fondazione Querini Stampalia
MONICA DA CORTA’ FUMEI, public employee cultural sector
URIZIO MARIA CARLOTTA, public employee Centro Donna
LUCIANA ZORZIN, public employee
LAURA GUADAGNINO, poet
ZEN GABRIELLA, musician and composer
KIKI DELLISANTI, musician and percussionist
LILIANA MINELLI CASTELLI, politician
BIANCA TAROZZI, poet
ENZO DE MARTINO, art critic and writer

 

 

 

 

MADONNING – VIDEO-INTERVIEWS 2006

MADONNING – DIGITAL ELABORATIONS

Widening my gaze over time I imagined along the banks, the streets, in the squares, the ancient presences of women meeting with the contemporary city: a puzzled gaze for what it has become. Yet, in its evolving, the city was also formed through them and their industrious existence – Strong ties are maintained in the spirit of the places and so I could see how in fact the places were still pervaded by them and still included them.

EXHIBITIONS

MADONNING was presented in 2006 at the Candiani Cultural Center in Mestre and, in 2007, at the Spazio Mondadori, San Marco in Venice.

BELOW THE VIDEO OF THE SET-UP AT THE MONDADORI SPACE