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- December 12 2024, gardens of Antonino Caponnetto Square, Palermo, Italy
art installation crerated in memory of mafia victims Emanuela Sansone and Giuseppa di Sano
see inauguration tv video report read news
Heroic Red Space was created in front of Sampolo Street, nearby Ucciardone Prison, where, on December 27 1896, the criminal act took place
read In ricordo di Emanuela Sansone e Giuseppa di Sano project
Rossella Puccio art director
areal view of Sampolo Street, Ucciardone Prison and of the gardens where the art installation was created
photos by Franca Marini December 13
Heroic Red Space fabrics, pvc, red elastic strap, copper and iron threads 54lengthx20widthx39½(h) ft
on the right: entrance to Sampolo Street, near Bar Bottarolo Palermo, and the wall with mural portrait of anti-mafia magistrate
Giovanni Falcone
on the left, in the distance: Heroic Red Space
the art installation and the mural portrait of magistrate Giovanni Falcone killed by the Sicilian mafia in 1992
photos by Franca Marini taken soon after the installation was completed December 12
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areal view of Sampolo Street, Ucciardone Aula Bunker and of the gardens where the art installation was created
on the right: article in the Giornale di Sicilia of the time reporting the news of the murder (December 27 1896)
on the left: entrance to 20 Sampolo Street facing the Ucciardone Prison, from Duca della Verdura Street
read fb In Ricordo di Emanuela Sansone e Giuseppa Di Sano
Sampolo Street
the commemorative plaque installed by the Municipality of Palermo in front of 20 Sampolo Street on March 8 2024 read news
Sampolo Street and the fenced pathway to the Ucciardone Prison seen from the art installation
entrance of the fenced pathway to Ucciardone Prison next to the beginning of Sampolo Street ( see also photo below)
Heroic Red Space in the distance, on the left, and in the photo above
mural portrait of magistrate Giovanni Falcone, killed by the Sicilian mafia in 1992, seen from the art installation
mural portrait of magistrate Paolo Borsellino, killed by the Sicilian mafia in 1992, located on the other side of Sampolo Street
mural portrait of Sicilian Italian Communist Party (PCI) Secretary Pio La Torre, killed by the Sicilian mafia in 1982, located in the nearby Duca della Verdura Street
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the art installation was created on the opening day December 12 2024
a special thank to Angelo, student of the Academy of Fine Arts of Palermo, for assisting the artist
photos by Rossella Puccio, In Ricordo di Emanuela Sansone e Giuseppa Di Sano project art director
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workshop with students of Experimental Languages and Painting courses held respectively by professors Rosa Persico and Stefania Galegati December 11 2024
see workshop video realized by Rossella Puccio, In Ricordo di Emanuela Sansone e Giuseppa Di Sano project art director
photos by Rossella Puccio
still images of the workshop video realized by Rossella Puccio
photo by Giusi Chinnici, Palermo VIII District Councilor
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Heroic Red Space fabrics, pvc, red elastic strap, copper and iron threads 54lengthx20widthx39½(h) ft
In the creation of this art installation I have attempted to represent not only the criminal act - the killing of the young woman - but also the extraordinary determination and moral strength of the mother, her refusal to accept the imposition of the mafia - the circulation of counterfeit money - her resistance to intimidation and finally her strenuous struggle to ensure that the culprits of the murder of her daughter were identified.
I selected four trees of the urban park assigned to me which symbolically become the main pillars of the work. They are connected by red pvc bands, thus forming a three-dimensional space delimited by the bands but open to anyone who wants to cross it. The space represents an internal dimension of vitality which shields and protects itself from a violent external reality which, however, can be fought only thanks to the newfound inner force.
I did not attempt to create a work which integrated itself into the small park, but which, on the contrary, would impose itself. Red is the only colour in this installation and alludes to blood and vitality, other elements evoke pain and laceration and refer to the violent death at the hands of mafia hitmen.
Franca Marini, December 2024
