TEMMATEMENETÈ - Gaia Di Lorenzo

Temmatemenetè | Gaia Di Lorenzo

26.06 > 26.09.2021

Text edited by Bruno Barsanti

Nìnne ka quèste jiè ‘a lùtema canzòne!
Ragazzo, questa è l’ultima canzone

Temmatemenetè is a widespread intervention in Terravecchia, the ancient village of Pietramontecorvino. The title, a plausible translation of which is 'I'd kill you, but I don't feel like it', coincides with the refrain of a 'sciàmbule', a form of traditional singing widespread in some villages of the Monti Dauni, practised on an improvised swing with a log of firewood, suspended by a rope from the front door of the houses.
Passed down only orally, the sciàmbule were sung only during Carnival week and made it possible to temporarily overturn hierarchies, customs and morals, conveying forbidden messages and feelings of love, disdain or pain. The idea of a physical and symbolic threshold is at the centre of Gaia Di Lorenzo's intervention, whose main focus is the entrance door to the courtyard of the Ducal Palace. Here the artist installs
Here the artist installs a large aluminium curtain that recalls the traditional moschiere, common in the villages of Southern Italy (scendelille in the local dialect), surmounted by an inlaid wooden crosspiece on which the phrase Temmatemenetè is engraved.
The decontextualisation of a typically popular element has the effect of projecting the entire courtyard into an unusual domestic interior dimension. Echoing the main installation, in the alleys and squares of Terravecchia, other moschiere reactivate passages and doors of abandoned houses. To them and to the wind - a constant presence in the village - are entrusted words and messages that resurface from a distant past and give new life to the shawms.