Roma AmorThe Fall of Empires

Biennale of Bonifacio #2On going
10 May - 02 November2024

By looking to the Mediterranean past, the exhibition attempts to grasp the mysterious prophecy at work in the mechanism of the fall of empires. In particular, it highlights the dialectical interplay between decadence and emancipation, vandalism and heroism, or ruin and foundation. These are the stages that always accompany the inevitable questioning of every civilisation.

Natacha Fume le Narguilé, Le Caire, 2000, Youssef Nabil and Galerie Nathalie Obadia, Paris/ Bruxelles

Ali Cherri, Grafting J, courtesy of the artist and Galerie Imane Farès, Paris

The artworks have been chosen for their equivocal beauty, as well as for their commitment which is not limited to a historical reading of the theme, but rather approaches 'empire' as an entity of political, moral or cultural domination that needs to be re-examined. The exhibition takes visitors on a journey through time to the heart of Bonifacio's heritage, a city that was the target of many powers (Pisan, Genoese, Aragonese, etc.) and even the temporary home of a future emperor: Napoleon Bonaparte.

This second edition of the Biennale, with just under twenty artists invited, recounts the nostalgia of lost paradises, the emancipation of thought, the slow conquest of freedom and the cyclical nature of the construction of an ideal that already carries within it the seeds of its destruction. It embodies both in its palindrome title - Roma Amor - and its visitor experience - a reversible itinerary that can be taken in two directions - the ambivalence of history, combining destruction and creation.

Exhibitedworks

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    AES+F

    The Feast of Trimalchio ; Panorama #9

    Three channel video installation, 2009 ; photographie 120 x 255 cm, 2020
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    Alexandre Bavard

    Temps Mort

    Multimedia installation and performance, 2024
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    Ali Cherri

    Grafting (F) ; Grafting (J) ; Staring at a Thousand Splendid Suns

    Sculptures, Clay, 36 x 13 cm, 2018 ; Stoneware, 40 x 22 x 15 cm, 2019 ; Stoneware, 15 x 16 x 6 cm, 2021
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    Blanca Li

    Didon et Enée

    Video installation, 2024
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    Eneri

    Sans titre

    Spray et vidéo, 2024
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    Hiwa K

    The Bell

    Sculpture, wood, bronze, 140 x 120 x 160 cm, 2007 - 2015
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    Laurent Grasso

    Soleil Noir ; Studies into the Past 1, 2, 3, 4

    16 mm film, 11 min 40, 2014 ; Oil on wood, 19.5 x 22 x 4.5 cm, 2024 ; Oil on wood, 19.8 x 22 x 4.5 cm, 2024 ; Oil on wood, 17.5 x 23.2 x 4.5 cm ; Oil on wood, 16.5 x 22.5 x 4.5 cm, 2024
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    Magdalena Jetelova

    Domestication of a Pyramid

    Installation, mixed techniques, 2024
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    Shirin Neshat

    The Fury

    HD video, 16 min 11, 2023
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    Sophia Al Maria

    The Future Was Desert, Part 1 and 2

    Videos with found footage, sound, 5 min 23 and 4 min 35, 2016
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    Youssef Nabil

    In Love, Denver ; Natacha fume le Narguilé, Cairo ; Deux Djellabas, Paris ; I Saved my Belly Dancer

    Photographs, 2012 ; 2000 ; 2007 ; Video, sound, 12 min, 2015
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    Kehinde Wiley

    Death of Two Soldiers

    Sculpture, bronze, 24,5 × 136 × 89 cm, 2022
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    Bill Viola

    Tristan's Ascension (The Sound of a Mountain Under a Waterfall)

    Video installation, sound, 10 min 16s, 2005
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    Valérie Giovanni

    Territorii Vox - Saisir le délaissement

    Performance, installation of 5 looped HD videos, colour, sound, variable durations, 2023
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    Salomé Chatriot

    Idols #2 ; Idols #3 ; Don't ignore that I am constituted of many small pieces that don't interconnect together (The Matriarch 1)

    Enamel and oil on aluminium, 180 x 165 cm, 2023 ; Enamel and oil on aluminium, 180 x 165 cm, 2023 ; Leather, galalith, aluminium powder, 2024
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    Sergio Roger

    Broken Torso ; Corinthian Column ; Ionic Column

    Sculptures, ancient linen, polyurethane, 180 x 75 x 40 cm, 2024 ; Ancient linen, wood, variable dimensions ; Ancient linen, wood, 200 x 67 x 36 cm, 2023
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    Esmeralda Kosmatopoulos

    Tout ce qui brille n'est pas de l'or

    Rubber, gold leaf, sand, 2024
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    Jean-Michel Basquiat

    No Title

    Drawing, 106 x 75 cm, 1982

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