22 May 2021

Performance project for Arthappening Varese

Venue: Lavit & Friends Art Gallery, Piazza Carducci, Varese

Performances by: Anna Utopia Giordano, Daniela Beltrani, Toni Alfano, Beatrice Orsini, Elisabetta Ubezio with Valerio Incerto, and Riccardo Giuseppe Mereu

Artistic Director: Alberto Lavit

Curated by: Sonia Catena and Alex Sala

When the image we have of ourselves and the world we live in is suddenly shattered by a traumatic event, what remains is a void. It is a void filled with pain, but also with opportunity—the chance to start over, to change everything, or to make subtle, quiet shifts.

The Hebrew word Shabbat comes from the verb shabat, meaning “to stop” or to cease all work. It is the day of rest, celebrated every Saturday.

SHABBAT is a performance that weaves together painting, music, and voice to invite a moment of meditation on the coronavirus pandemic that has overwhelmed the world: the loss of loved ones, the restrictions on individual and social freedom, the economic crisis, and a profound anxiety for the future, balanced by the desire to begin anew and imagine a renewed world.

The performance centered around a large painting by Toni Alfano: a hyperrealistic portrait of actress Lucia Bosè, a victim of Covid in 2020, which was systematically destroyed live by the artist himself.

The action was accompanied by voice messages sent by Italian citizens during the pandemic, set to music by multimedia artist Anselmo De Filippis. These messages were collected throughout 2020 through a public open call for the production of the film DUEZERO DUEZERO.