Spring In Italy - A Reawakening and Appreciation of Difference

Italy's rich cultural diversity is shaped by centuries of migration, not in spite of it. KNST Collective's latest workshop, Spring In Italy seeks to elevate the cultural differences within Italy, the artists looking to combat harmful narratives around migration in Italy today, and those celebrating their local cultures, languages and dialects across the country.

Italy is a place of many contradictions. Socially conservative (some would say backwards) at times, yet also at the forefront of many movements across the arts and science. 

A country that didn’t allow its women to vote until 1945, and that has one of the highest femicide rates in Europe, and consistently underperforms in the EU gender equality indices, it is also home to a nation of formidable women, a female prime minister and a female head of the opposition, and women taking the centrestage on social debates. 

It is also a country that has appeared “monoethnic” until recently, with influxes of Arab, African and Balkan migrants, and yet whose regional culture is in part influenced by Arab, North African and Balkan migration and colonisation over centuries. Resistance to this latest wave of migration is counteracted by a vocal cohort of young artists, activists and politicians of immigrant origin, emphasising their own version of Italianness. 

Because the art world moves before the rest of society, I am confident that we are on the verge of a new Italy, where we can move from being a nation that values Italianness and worthiness of belonging to society based on ethnic characteristics and gender, to one based on civic and shared values. 

As such, Spring in Italy is not only about a literal spring, but also of a cultural and societal spring, a reawakening and celebration of our cultural diversity, of the many ways in which one is Italian.

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Prior to the event this weekend, I wanted to highlight a few Italian artists that I feel bring out the best of this new Italy that is emerging. 

Source: Guerilla Spam

1. Guerilla Spam:

A Florence-born, Italy-wide movement, born in 2010, is a protest, and analysis of the current discourse around migration in the form of street art and posters. In 2016, they contributed a 30-foot long mural at the MAAM, a slaughterhouse turned squat house for migrant families, turned street art museum. The piece, “La Deriva Umana”, or the human drift, shows a humanoid monster holding the boot of Italy on a string, and tearing it away from dinghies full of humans, a stark reminder of the unwelcoming politics of Italy and migration. 

2. Ghali:

As one of Italy’s greatest popstars and rappers, Ghali is of Tunisian roots. His music brings to the centrestage the issues surrounding immigration and life as an Italian of immigrant origin, and has been unafraid to take on political issues surrounding immigration, one of Italy’s most divisive topics. Ghali sponsored an immigrant rescue boat in the Mediterranean, going directly against the political wills of the government, while using the stage at Sanremo, the famous music competition, to lobby for peace in Gaza.

3. SAGG Napoli:

SAGG Napoli, the moniker for Sofia Ginevra Gianni, is a Neapolitan multimedia artist, known for her bow and arrow wielding, unrepentantly feminine, images. She explores issues such as Southern Italian culture, femininity, politics, class, and the intersection between art and sports. 

4. Serena Brancale:

Multi-insturmentalist, Serena Brancale shot to fame this year for her baile funk-inspired tune, Baccala, in Barese dialect. Her undying love for her hometown of Bari, and respect for her local culture seeps through every aspect of her art, alongside her curiosity towards other cultures, as Brazilian and Arabic melodies and beats infuse her music.

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This weekend, expect to see elements of traditional Italian culture - the food, the colours, the music. But also expect to see, listen, and taste other, less expected aspects of Italy, that reflect the cultural and ethnic diversity of the country. 

Want to listen to the playlist we prepared?? Here it is!