From Wednesday 21st, the other archives included in the ‘Visioni del Sud’ exhibition will open to the public, starting with the previously unpublished work *Erotico Erotico*, a tribute to Antonio Carmelo Erotico, photographer for *Frigidaire*, the Italian cultural magazine specialising in comics, columns, journalistic features and music, which published innovative Italian and foreign artists, including Andrea Pazienza, Tanino Liberatore and Massimo Mattioli, and in which famous comic strip characters such as Zanardi and Ranxerox made their debuts. ‘Visioni del Sud’ aims to explore Antonio Carmelo Erotico’s artistic journey and, in particular, his work centred on nudes and eroticism—images that went on to become the iconic covers of *Frigidaire*—in order to create an exhibition project capable of reinterpreting his artistic exploration with the benefit of hindsight. In *Erotico Erotico*, curated by Malì Erotico and Maurizio Buttazzo, the photographs serve as a valuable testament to the movements and underground culture that swept through Italy at the turn of the 1980s and 1990s. A portrait of a generation, captured by an irreverent and provocative artist.
Also exploring the theme of ‘Bodies’ are the images from *Lisetta and the Others*, a recent interview by Paolo Pisanelli with Lisetta Carmi. In the video installation, the voice of the photographer – one of the leading figures in social photography in the second half of the twentieth century – alternates with the visual narrative of her photographs. She was one of the first female artists to tackle the issue of gender identity in such a radical way, and did so during an extremely hostile period. When her photographs were collected in a book published by Essedì in Rome in 1972, bookshops refused to stock it. Carmi had begun photographing transsexuals in Genoa in 1965 and continued for seven years until the publication of her work, *I Travestiti*, which was destined to become a seminal document in the history of Italian photography. *Il mondo di Lisetta* was realised thanks to a collaboration with Giovanni Battista Martini, curator of the Lisetta Carmi Archive, alongside Kunstschau, RTI Theutra Oasimed (Lecce) and Arte Contemporanea Picena (Ascoli Piceno).
In keeping with Carmi’s work, *Visioni del Sud* also features works by young artists exploring the themes of gender identity and non-conformity, such as in *Marsico* – Down the Street, a photographic project by Andrea Ciccarese, which documents the daily life of the Marsico family, one of the oldest families of fairground entertainers in Salento. The exhibition continues with *Gender Project*, a photographic and ‘political’ project by Veronique Charlotte, curated by Festival Persona and Cinema del Reale, a collection of over 100 portraits exploring the themes of fluidity and gender, and the video installation *Ekdysis* by Niya B, a transfeminist artist who works at the intersections of visual art and performance, exploring themes linked to ecology, (trans)gender politics and equity in mental health. The installation is the result of a collaboration between Domus and Lo.ft.
‘Visioni del Sud’ also includes *Affacci* by Vincenzo d’Alba, who, following a residency at the castle, reinterpreted the metaphorical and anthropological messages contained in the faces carved into the castle’s stones, offering a contemporary interpretation through an installation created in collaboration with Sprech. Next comes ‘Riforesta’, a photographic project by Basilio Puglia, which documents the experience of Manu Manu Riforesta, a group of activists working to revive the ancient ‘Bosco Belvedere’, whilst wildfires and Xylella represent genuine social and cultural emergencies in the Salento region. The theme of landscape returns in Sara Scanderebech’s photographic work, entitled *La Planéte Sauvage*, curated by Rosita Ronzini as part of a collaboration with Avant Festival; it offers an intimate glimpse into the colours and bodies of the South, an invitation to explore a microcosm where plants and animals are inhabitants of an unknown planet. Photography and sculpture engage in dialogue in *Leggere attentamente il foglietto illustrativo* (Read the package leaflet carefully), a journey through images and ceramics created by the residents of the Casa per la Vita Artemide in Racale, guided by the artist and ceramist Giorgio di Palma. Alongside the audiovisual works, the exhibition features hands-on workshops and archives working on ongoing projects such as L’erbario nel borgo by Elena Campa, a public print workshop dedicated to creating an ‘archive of plant forms’, and Giancarlo Nunziato’s ‘Stamperia Nomade’, dedicated to building a travelling archive of faces and portraits.
The exhibitions are open every day.
Opening hours: 10am–1pm; 4pm–8pm.
For information and bookings
351 913 7972; 0836 471 008
