PAOLO SIMONAZZI – BAG GALLERY

MANTUA: With this project the author continues his research on small worlds, on the province as a condition of the spirit. In this case the subject is the small Cuban town of Mantua, a place that legend has it was founded following the shipwreck of the Italian brig “Mantua” in Caribbean waters. ????Paolo Simonazzi, with the fundamental support of writer Davide Barilli, explored the small town at the northwestern tip of Cuba, trying to find the signs of olvido, that is, that feeling of forgetfulness that characterizes the space of the province, no matter if shrouded in the fog of the Emilian lowlands or suspended in the sultry tropical climate.
Simonazzi photographs interiors characterized by symbols, totems, and contrasting simulacra and then moves to the wall narrative of a probably romantic socialism, made up of faded walls and memories that, at present, confront an opening to the West that is increasingly necessary and urgent; he studies the relationship between the various spaces that make up the urban fabric, linked together by that nostalgic feeling that seems to filter the narrative, slowing down the pace of change, preserving the myth of an island protagonist of the history of the 20th century. 

After the Parma exhibition, the project will be hosted in November in Havana, on the occasion of the Week of Italian Culture in Cuba. 

The exhibition will be on view from Sept. 9 to Oct. 9, 2016 at BAG GALLERY in Parma (Borgo Ronchini 3) Thursday through Sunday (4 to 9 p.m.) with free admission.

The exhibition was curated by Andrea Tinterri; a catalog edited by Greta Editions will also be available.

For more information visit www.bag-gallery.com