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november 23, 2022 - Casa Morra. Archivi d’Arte Contemporanea

Mary Zygouri - who is the third who walks (always) beside you?


UNDERNEATH THE ARCHES
PROGRAMMA DI #arte CONTEMPORANEA

On the occasion of the 2nd edition of Art Days - #napoli Campania

Presents

Mary Zygouri
Who is the Third Who Walks (Always) Beside You?
Chi è il terzo che (sempre) ti cammina accanto?
Ποιος είναι ο τρίτος που βαδίζει (πάντα) πλάι σου;

Curated by #chiarapirozzi and Alessandra Troncone

Friday 25 November 2022, h. 6.30 pm; 7.30 pm
Saturday 26 November 2022, h. 12 pm; 1 pm
Acquedotto Augusteo del Serino, Via Arena Sanità, 5 - Napoli

On the occasion of the 2nd edition of Art Days - #napoli Campania, Underneath the Arches presents a new #performance by Greek artist Mary Zygouri specifically conceived for the archaeological site. The #event is curated by Chiara Pirozzi and Alessandra Troncone, in collaboration with Associazione VerginiSanità.

By intertwining research, visions and approaches that have guided the artist towards a close relationship between the human body and the architectural/natural body, #maryzygouri has created a #performance closely connected to the physicality of the place, able to make the remains and pre-existence of the Roman era vital. Mary Zygouri’s action draws inspiration from the poem Wasted Land written by the poet and playwright Thomas Stearns Eliot in 1922. Through the interpretation of timeless and non-human characters who inhabit the archaeological space, the artist transposes the polysemantic, enigmatic and symbolic themes of Eliot’s text in a new dimension that intertwines myth, history and superstition. Conceived as a narration that proceeds through figures in transformation that communicate with the public in three languages ​​(Italian, English and Greek), the #performance suggests, as described by the title, the constant presence of an “other” entity perceived at our side even if physically absent.

Underneath the Arches aims to activate a dialogue between archaeology and contemporary art, and to establish a relationship between local material and immaterial culture and the artistic research of international artists. Its main objective is to promote both existing cultural heritage and new production in #contemporaryart. In the fascinating space of the ancient Roman aqueduct, discovered in 2011 and located underneath a historical building called Palazzo Peschici Maresca, international artists are invited to create temporary and site-specific installations in dialogue with the space itself and the surrounding area. Previous exhibitions include works by Arturo Hernández Alcázar (Mexico City, 1978), Hera Büyüktaşçıyan (Istanbul, 1984), Adrian Melis (Havana, 1985) and Jumana Manna (Princeton, 1987).

This project is kindly supported by Fondazione Morra, and carried out under the Matronage of Madre Museum / Fondazione Donnaregina per le arti contemporanee of Naples, and under the patronage of the Academy of Fine Arts in Naples. Thanks to Paola Ricciardi for the choreographic coordination.

ARTIST BIOGRAPHY
Mary Zygouri (Athens, 1973) holds a BA from Athens School of Fine Arts and a Master FA at Chelsea College of Art and Design, London. She lives and works between Athens and Italy. In 2017, she was invited by Documenta 14 to the main exhibition in Athens and Kassel at Palais Bellevue. Her solo shows include The Repetition of the Impossible, Prometeogallery di Ida Pisani, Milan (2018) and ZOOpoetics-ZOOpolitics, Studio Stefania Miscetti, Rome (2011). She has performed and exhibited in numerous group shows at international museum and institutions, including Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea, Rome; Mu.ZEE, Ostenda; EMST, Athens; MOMUS, Salonicco; Cittadellarte–Fondazione Pistoletto, Biella; Dutch Art Institute, Arnhem; IILA – Istituto Italo-Latino Americano, Rome; IKSV – Istanbul Foundation for Culture, Istanbul. In 2012, she was awarded by the ΑICA Hellas. In 2014, she collaborated with Michelangelo Pistoletto at the performance Venus of the Rags /INTRANSIT/ELEUSIS at the Aischyleian Festival, Eleusis. She created ENYPNIO (2019) at the archaeological site of Paestum, with the support of Fondazione Gatto (Salerno) and LYSIS (2022) at the archaeological site of Amfiareio Oropos in Greece, with the support of NEON Foundation. Her practice has been featured and reviewed in several art magazines and academic journals.

THE AUGUSTAN AQUEDUCT IN NAPLES
Discovered in 2011, the tract of a Roman aqueduct found underneath Palazzo Peschici Maresca in Naples, owned by the Arciconfraternita dei Pellegrini, is an archaeological find that is key to tracing the entire trajectory of the ancient construction. The aqueduct was built in 10 AC and was an extraordinary work of hydraulic engineering at the time. It was more than 100 km long and supplied water to the most important cities in Campania, such as Neapolis, Pompeii and Herculaneum. Over the centuries, its bridge-arches were buried due to the rise of the ground level. They were then used as foundations for new constructions, as the city expanded beyond the walls of ancient Neapolis, leading to the rise of the Vergini-Sanità area. The spaces outlined by the old arches, now underground, served as wine cellars, as a bomb shelter during the Second World War, and as a dump. Opened in 2015, the archaeological site is currently managed by Associazione VerginiSanità. In collaboration with the Arciconfraternita and other cultural associations in the area, it is working on a whole project for its restoration, promotion and reception, titled AquaAugusta. In 2017, the site was included in EXTRAMANN, a collaborative project between the MANN Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli and other institutions devoted to promoting cultural heritage.

INFO
www.verginisanita.it/aquaugusta
aquaugusta.contemporaryart@gmail.com

GUIDED TOURS OF THE SITE
Associazione VerginiSanità:
associazioneverginisanita@gmail.com
+39 328 1297472