From 9 to 20 September 2019, Pompeii was an international artist residence for the project Artists in Architecture – Re-activating Modern European Houses, within the framework of the scientific cooperation agreement stipulated with the Department of Architecture of the Federico II University (DiARC), which saw the artist Elena Mazzi at work.
Elena Mazzi was the winner of an international selection and created 'The School of Pompeii' for the Park, starting from an exploration and analysis of some of the most hidden aspects of the city. The work, which will soon be delivered to the Park and exhibited to the public, is composed of 5 narratives between reality and fiction, complementary to 5 large photographic tableaux vivants, in which in some cases former employees of the Park appear, now retired, who have lived the ancient city for a long time through their work.
On September 20, the work was previewed to the Project partners and the Management of the Archaeological Park of Pompeii, awaiting final delivery.
The artist residency is part of the Creative Europe project, curated by DiARC in partnership with the Centre for Fine Arts in Brussels BOZAR and the Fundacio Mies van der Rohe in Barcelona.
Artists in Architecture is an interdisciplinary project aimed at promoting synergies between protection and cultural production, in the framework of the commitments of the European Year of Heritage 2018. At the intersection of art, architecture and education, the project curated by professors Maria Rita Pinto and Serena Viola, contributes to the valorization of a lesser-known segment of the European heritage, with the simultaneous launch of six experiments in artists' houses: in Brussels, Barcelona, Bucharest, Praiano and in Casina Fiorelli in Pompeii.
The commission that selected the artist was composed of the professor of architecture Maria Rita Pinto, the general director of the MADRE Museum Andrea Viliani and the professor Giovanni Menna. Following an anthropological approach, Elena Mazzi explores blurred contemporary identities, investigates and documents the personal and collective identity. Her work looks in two directions that are not opposed, but intertwined: on the one hand, the Nordic model, pioneer of sustainability and strategies focused on people's well-being; on the other, a Mediterranean form of cooperative ability to make a virtue of necessity, implementing reuse and recycling.
In Pompeii she was joined by the Finnish artist Lena Seraphin and assisted by students from the Department of Architecture.
During his stay, the artist had the opportunity to engage with the context and immerse himself in the experience of the Archaeological Park. The expected result is the sensitization of public opinion to the tangible and intangible values of the heritage, in particular the residences in which significant personalities of the short century lived and worked, testifying to the intellectual effervescence of Europe in various moments of recent history.
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