Performance by Rita Esposito at the Archaeological Park of Cuma

On the day of the summer solstice, in the Sibyl's Cave, the artist Rita Esposito will perform a performance inspired by the story of the Cave of the Nymphs in the Odyssey. Like the Naiads in the Homeric verses “…they weave purple cloaks, a marvel to behold…”, the artist will weave threads of yarn along the path of the Cave in a metaphor of the relationship between Life and Death, through the tool of weaving. The artifacts will become part of the collective work “il fiume di rose”, installed for the occasion in the Antro, concluding the creation of the 33-meter network that was the basis and support of all the events realized during the 9 months of the itinerant and interactive artistic journey. The “network” represented, in fact, the substrate that collected, through the roses installed by the participants, the themes, reflections and emotions elaborated during the events and performances, through the tools of art, using the medium of crochet as a symbol of ancient knowledge. The desire to end the basic plot in a place with a highly symbolic value led the choice to Cuma, the mother place of Western history, the origin of Neapolitan civilization and the center of Mediterranean culture. In fact, the reference to the ancient Wisdom of the Feminine, a constant throughout the entire artistic project “il fiume di rose”, finds its culmination in this performance with the choice of a location, a crossroads of cultures and knowledge, linked to the myth of the Sibyl, a prophetess linked to the oracle of the dead capable of providing answers to the thousands of pilgrims who came to Cuma from every part of the Mediterranean. The project “il fiume di rose” aims, through an ongoing artistic event lasting 9 months that will end on June 21, 2019, to create a collective artistic artifact formed by the union of crocheted roses made by the artist and by a multitude of skilled women's hands on a crocheted net made entirely by the artist that will reach a final length of 33 meters. The roses, in the colors traditionally associated with water, will be given to all the women who, during the events, wish to tie them to the network of “the river of roses”, thus testifying to their belonging to the Sacred River of the Feminine. This event continues the artist's series of itinerant performances involving the public in various cities in Italy. The collective artistic work “il fiume di rose” will be exhibited in July 2019 at the Palazzo delle Arti in Naples and subsequently in other exceptional locations. The curatorship is by Daniele Galdiero, architect and artist photographer as well as art teacher. “The work of art, in its formation, acquires a strong symbolic value: the transformation of a yarn into a new object made of creative thought and love becomes a metaphor for life itself, the human need to play with the thread of existence to pass on knowledge and create beauty in the wonder of coexistence in peaceful harmony.”
“A multitude of Roses for a multitude of Women…Every Woman will have her Rose. And all the Roses together will form #ilfiumedirose” (RE)