Naples, Italy
Mission Title: Meeting Gigiotto Del Vecchio - MADRE and Rione Sanità
Mission By: Davide Migliaccio, Ivan De Francesco
Mission Finished on Date: 20-05-2008
SCRIPT
- What kind of role does art have in a community's public life?
- Interview Gigiotto Del Vecchio.
- Have him show you around, tour the neighborhood, and explain to you the gallery's aims and it fits into the local and international scene.
- Get shots of the MADRE and other cultural institutions in the area, and shots of the area itself.
- How much does his cultural action contribute to the area and how much does its location affect the venue? Find out what kind of dialectics does he expect from their interaction.
TRAVEL BAG
How much can a neighborhood nourish a cultural space?
No city is more emblematic of the Italian south than Naples. And no district more Neapolitan than Rione Sanità. Beneath this ancient district lies a burial ground an beset by high crime and unemployment, life above the surface is made just a little easier than those below by the views of the beautiful old churches and palazzi and the recent influx of art spaces. Though poor in jobs, the district is rich in art. Other than giving birth to one of Italy's most popular actors, Totò, the Rione Sanità is fast becoming a major Italian cultural district.
Architect Alvaro Siza transformed an ancient building into a contemporary art museum, the MADRE, while curator Gigiotto Del Vecchio opened a new space with Stefania Palumbo to promote young artists. Named after its address, the gallery sits only a few meters away from the museum, in Sottoportico Lopez, 32. Though the Rione Sanità rough identity remains intact, these cultural producers can either cause a seismic shift or merely ripple the well-established identity of the old neighborhood.
