The second Digital Fellowship of Pompeii Commitment - Archaeological Matters

Pompeii Commitment. Archaeological Matters – the first long-term, contemporary art programme, established by the Archaeological Park of Pompeii – has recently launched a new yearly programme of Digital Fellowships, facilitating artistic and curatorial research within Pompeii's uniquely trans-temporal, multi-species, and deeply entangled context.

Over the course of four months, between July and November 2022, Rose Salane visited the Archaeological Park of Pompeii and entered into dialogue with different professionals. This period offered the artist an opportunity to initiate new research forging connections between the "then" and "now" of Pompeii as an ancient urban complex and a contemporary tourist destination, reflecting upon the ways in which notions of circulation, possession and belonging—applied to both objects and people—may coexist in, and be embodied by, the archaeological ruins as well as Pompeii's vast archives.

Salane accessed part of the archaeological matter storerooms, as well as the databases of visual documentation relating to Pompeii's modern and contemporary life since the 18th century. Certain categories of objects and photographic records captured the artist's interest, particularly ancient rings, stolen and returned artifacts, and archival cards of infrastructural modern interventions. Much of the material gathered by the artist has resulted in a series of visual sets that accompany a new literary essay by Salane, published as a culmination of her Digital Fellowship with the title The Feedback Loop of Belongings.