At the Montevergine sanctuary, the Neapolitan queer community has been celebrating Mamma Schiavona – the ‘Great Mother’ of femminielli and LGBTQ+ people – for CENTURIES. A RELIGIOUS festival, where identities, bodies and genders are free, beautiful and self-determined in their non-conformity.
SYNOPSIS
LA CANDELORA A MONTEVERGINE is an ongoing photographic project that began in 2018 and documents the pilgrimage that takes place every 2 February at the Sanctuary of Montevergine. What makes this pilgrimage unique is the bond and devotion that Neapolitan femminielli and the entire queer community of Campania share with the Madonna of Montevergine – also known as Mamma Schiavona, the mother of all, the one who welcomes and does not marginalise. The connection between this place and the LGBTQ+ community dates back a very long time. A medieval legend tells of two young lovers, cast out by their community and left to die of cold, who were saved by the Madonna. It is also interesting to note that, before the Sanctuary of Montevergine was built, a temple dedicated to the goddess Cybele stood on that site, and the priests devoted to her would castrate themselves as a sign of sacrifice during the ritual, whilst dancing and playing drums. Centuries later, the pilgrimage continues and the pagan festival has merged with the Christian one. Candlemas Day is a celebration with highly theatrical elements; it is a mystical festival where people sing and dance with great emotional intensity, and on this day the queer community of Campania also celebrates itself in the name of a form of religiosity free from discrimination, alongside the beauty and richness of non-conformity.
BIO
Alessandro Gattuso (1989), a photographer and filmmaker, graduated in cinema from the Academy of Fine Arts in Naples. After winning the second edition of Fotogrammi at the Napolifilmfestival in 2012, he worked as a stage photographer for the theatre company Teatri Uniti. He was selected by the Premio Combat in Livorno for a group exhibition featuring the installation *Nello specchio degli occhi altrui*; in 2015, he took part in the *MAF mito arte e foto* project promoted by the City of Naples. His first short film, *Por Cuestion di Corazon*, shot in Barcelona, won first prize at the Omovies Festival and was screened at several festivals. He joined the FILMaP ‘Atelier di Cinema del Reale’, at the end of which he made the documentary *Antonio degli scogli*, which was selected for several festivals. In 2020, he was selected for the ‘Suoni e Visioni’ residency at the Aamod film archive and directed the short film *Dal giorno finché sera*, which was selected for numerous festivals and received a special mention at the Loversfilmfestival. With the photographic project *Cosmi*, developed as part of the *Laboratorio irregolare 03* led by Antonio Biasiucci, he won second prize at *Portfolio Italia 2022*, and exhibited at the Bibbiena Photography Centre, took part in the 2022 Castelnuovo Photography Festival and exhibited in various galleries. His photographs have been published in I-D Vice, *Espresso*, *La Repubblica* and *Corriere della Sera*. His personal work focuses on themes relating to identity, biography and queer culture.
