The cultural operation “iamvulnerable, failure is an achievement – art is loving the error,” curated by Sergio Mario Illuminato, represents – in its transdisciplinarity – an innovative and creative model of artistic promotion.
Congratulations to the Italian Cultural Institute in Paris for taking a chance on this project, and to Director Antonio Calbi for his dedication in promoting Italian culture worldwide. As the Culture Committee of the Chamber of Deputies, we strongly support the activities of Italian Institutes abroad and collaborate with them on important cultural diplomacy initiatives. These institutes are true bastions of our tradition, and they must take on an increasingly central role in the promotion of literature and live performance.
I would also like to congratulate all the institutions involved and curator Sergio Mario Illuminato for conceptualizing this initiative, for the significant contribution it offers to the field of visual arts, and for being included in the 20th edition of the Contemporary Art Day, the major annual event promoted by the Association of Italian Contemporary Art Museums with the support of the Directorate-General for Contemporary Creativity of the Ministry of Culture and in collaboration with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, which has always certified the excellence of contemporary art in Italy and abroad.
Equally praiseworthy is the artist’s intent to convey and share the concept of “vulnerability,” not only through performance art but with a truly multidisciplinary approach, making this project a uniquely remarkable and comprehensive cultural work. The author’s debut film, the short “Vulnerare,” is the culmination of a journey that collects and enhances all creative practices – photography, art, dance, cinema – with a focus on urban regeneration and an innovative vision of spaces.
As highlighted in the evocative “imaginary” interview with Pasolini and the works presented at the exhibition, the central theme around which the entire cultural project revolves is vulnerability, which can be aesthetically and transversally expressed in many ways. For example, the socially fragile individual is vulnerable, as is the degraded neighborhood that is not revitalized or the family left behind in its distress. Art has the mythopoetic power to transform this vulnerability – degradation, suffering, and loneliness – into beauty. As curator Illuminato writes, “art is not a luxury, but a vital necessity.”
It is precisely Pierpaolo Pasolini who embodied this ideal. A personal life spent in solitude – as he himself wrote – was the path to his total artistic freedom and independence. In 1969, at the peak of his literary production, he wrote: “I am completely alone. And, moreover, in the hands of anyone who wants to strike me. I am blackmailable, I am vulnerable.” This vulnerability made him one of the most incisive poets of the twentieth century, still inspiring artists across all fields today, as this cultural project demonstrates. As President of the Culture Committee, I extend my sincerest wishes for the success of this valuable initiative.