“Ero nessuna” (I was Nobody) by Sandro Mele (Melendugno, 1970) is, to all intents and purposes, an artistic and anthropological reflection dedicated to investigating the great contemporary social themes discussed by Western culture, especially Italian culture, which has always been a living intersection of the most varied traditions. Protagonist of frequent migratory flows and encouraged by multiculturalism by its geographical position, Italy is an ancient sacred temple, whose cultural pluralism gives rise to the solemn need to protect its varied heritage.
Sandro Mele, Ero Nessuna, installation view, Fondazione VOLUME!, Roma, 2023. Ph. Alice Ciccarese, courtesy Fondazione VOLUME!
In this way, the legal importance embodied by the Constitution is clear, more specifically by article 3, which praises equality in its broadest scope and becomes the main actor of the artist’s exhibition. This is a further stimulus, which embellishes the immersive exhibition set up in the Roman spaces of the VOLUME Foundation! until January 19, 2024. “Ero nessuna” is an opportunity to overcome one’s moral boundaries and raise awareness, reinforcing and stimulating empathic openness to the other, in this situation, the foreigner, seen as an interlocutor with whom to share a tense society to progressive peaceful development. But how is it possible to achieve this goal? We talk about it with the artist Sandro Mele.
Sandro Mele, Ero Nessuna, installation view, Fondazione VOLUME!, Roma, 2023. Ph. Alice Ciccarese, courtesy Fondazione VOLUME!
Antonella Buttazzo: Ero Nessuna offers numerous food for thought thanks to the various thematic areas it contains. These include inclusion and identity, to which we could associate the adjective cultural. How would you explain this concept?
Sandro Mele: I start from a subject that becomes an absolute priority for me and I talk about it, I study the phenomenon and then comes the choice of how to represent it according to my filter. I like to tell stories that can explain the dynamics. All this to say that culture is first of all “doing”.
Sandro Mele, Ero Nessuna, installation view, Fondazione VOLUME!, Roma, 2023. Ph. Alice Ciccarese, courtesy Fondazione VOLUME!
The art you propose also aims to intensify the relationships and dialogues that can exist between the realities present in the territory and the cultures that inhabit it. What was it like to collaborate with the associations Italians without citizenship and UNIA – Italian Union of Stateless Persons?
Every time I create my projects I always have a dialogue with the movements, which I allow to have a direct voice and tell their point of view. To understand the movements, you need to know how to listen to them closely. For this project I worked with the associations through a dear friend of mine, he gave me their contacts and the dialogue did the rest. I met Fioralba Duma with whom we discussed how it was possible to proceed and, after various reflections, we came to the conclusion that it was right to give voice to her and Karen’s story. Fioralba is a woman born in Scutari, who has lived in Italy since the age of eleven, while Karen belongs to a stateless reality that it was right to make known. We immediately had a clear dialogue and they were very helpful, we knew it was the right thing to do.
Sandro Mele, Ero Nessuna, installation view, Fondazione VOLUME!, Roma, 2023. Ph. Alice Ciccarese, courtesy Fondazione VOLUME!
What do Floralba and Karen, the protagonists of the exhibition, represent??
They represent first of all themselves, and then the entire community of the second generation of emigrants in Italy.
A country, in its broadest sense, does not only correspond to a geographical coordinate. Rather, it is an entity that responds to different scales of values. In the case of Italy, it is a land in which many civilizations and cultures have stratified, synonymous with the intertwining of profound identities. What added values do other cultures bring to the Italian one?
I would like Italy to be a stratification of cultures, but unfortunately it is not because we are not yet ready to welcome each other, and now it is more evident than ever. This is why I make these topics central to my research: citizens without rights, open borders, acceptance of new populations. Art has the duty to stir conscience and awareness.
Sandro Mele, Ero Nessuna, installation view, Fondazione VOLUME!, Roma, 2023. Ph. Alice Ciccarese, courtesy Fondazione VOLUME!
Do you want to tell us about the works that welcome visitors to the exhibition?
This exhibition is rather a single large work, created by the stratification of small and large paintings on paper, a sort of storyboard of notes, declarations, portraits, concepts, personal stories that tell the condition of suspension and uncertainty of the protagonists and of all those who are without rights. Furthermore, the testimonies collected as audio contributions guide the visitor inside these stories.
Info:
Sandro Mele. Ero nessuna
19/12/ 2023 – 19/01/2024, Tuesday to Friday from 5pm to 7pm
FondazioneVOLUME!
Via di San Francesco di Sales 86/88, Roma
press@fondazionevolume.com
After obtaining the high school languages diploma, she continued her studies graduating in Art History at the University of Salento, with a bilingual thesis on the Pre-Raphaelites. Since then, she has been actively contributing as a columnist and collaborator with national blogs and with local magazines and TV programs.
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