Agorà
SADI
Permanent site specific sound installation
Agorà is a site-specific sound installation project, developed in collaboration with Pardo, Omikron, and BHMF Black History Month Florence, and curated by Veronica Caciolli and Valentina Gensini. The project emerged as the winner of the MAD call for artist residencies in October 2023 and is a creation by the sound artist SADI from Florence.
The Agorà installation is the outcome of an extensive four-month research initiative focusing on the memories of inmates in a prison. The research incorporated oral testimonies from collaborators such as Valeria Muledda and Corrado Marcetti, as well as documents from the State Archives of Florence, the Tuscan Institute of Resistance and Contemporary History, Villa Romana, and contributions from researchers like Pamela Giorgi and Elena Gonnelli. Additionally, it drew upon resources preserved by MAD.
Spanning approximately sixty years, from the 1920s to the 1970s, the research unveiled a diverse array of anti-fascist figures, including Gaetano Salvemini, Hans Purrmann, Aldo Capitini, Carlo Levi, and Alessandro Sinigaglia. Agorà aspires to resonate with the ideas, orientations, and struggles of these figures, who represent a varied and resilient minority that played a pivotal role in shaping our understanding of the world.
The prison, originally conceived as a space of denial, is metamorphosed into an Agorà, invoking the spirit of the ancient Greek polis as a hub for democracy, religious and political gatherings, commercial activities, and social interactions. This project stands as a homage to the principles of freedom of thought, gender, origin, and religion, celebrating the lives and ideas of those who resisted and dissented during those crucial years of history.
The installation is openend to the public from February 1st 2024.
