Action in the public space for eight pennant and 24 performers. 60′, Naples 2024

The action, promoted and financed by the City of Naples, opened the Maggio dei Monumenti ‘The Waters of Naples’.

Video: documentary realized by the students of Liceo Vico in the frame of Arte Dal Vivo. Editing and direction: Rosa Maietta.

Performers | Vico students: Antonio Billi, Francesca Carbone, Giada Colasurdo, Chiara D’Aponte, Marta Donnarumma, Caterina Falivene, Carla Grieco, Matteo Grimaldi, Lorena Laino, Roberta Matto, Rosanna Mennillo, Emanuele Minichino, Maria Rita Scerbo, Serena Spigno, Giulia Terzi, Lavinia Tocchetti, Leone Valentino | Guests: Alessandro Armento, Nicola Ciancio, Maria Corbi, Vincenzo Falcione, Marco Izzolino, Viviana Marchiò, Luciana Soravia.

The research for the action was developed in the context of the 5th Edition of the project ARTE DAL VIVO of the Liceo Gian Battista Vico, realised in collaboration with the Azienda Napoletana Mobilità and LADOC video productions, with funding from the Regione Campania.

The Sebeto, the Taglina, the waters of the Arenella and the springs of ferrata water are just some of the many waters that have disappeared, buried, slipped into the tuffaceous depths of Naples, dried up and closed. Waters, disappeared from the sound, visible and tactile panorama of Naples, that led the Alexandrians in the 2nd century A.D. to see Neapolis as a small delta of the Nile, that Nile that today appears to lie with baroque savoir faire in the heart of the city.

Acque Invisibili represents a further reflection on the memories of the city’s waterways of which the Corpo di Napoli monument is a visible sign. The artistic intervention in the public space creates a dialogue with the Corpo di Napoli monument and the passers-by through a collaborative action.

Acque Invisibili (Invisible Waters) recounts the disappearance of water through the statue’s missing putti. These putti, most of which have disappeared, represent the cubits of water carried by the flooding of the River Nile. The performative action translates this philological research into a tableau vivant that involves the spectators in creating an evocative vision of the monument as it must have appeared in the 18th century.

The performers evoked the complete allegory of the monument and made tangible how collaboration, care, curiosity and attention make possible situations and events that go far beyond individual abilities and efforts.