The Political Body
The volume subtitled Il corpo politico [The Political Body ] accompanies the exhibition held at MAXXI in Rome, chronologically speaking the last of the three shows in the project Pier Paolo Pasolini. Tutto è santo. The interpretative key to the works exhibited in this venue, and consequently the common leitmotif of this volume, is Pasolini’s political engagement as well as the analysis of the social content expressed by the writer in the works he made in 1975, the year of his death. Texts, images, movies, notes, and documents will be the narrative device necessary to recount the beginning of a protest that has endured to this day, its modern interpretation unfolding through the works of the contemporary artists exhibited at the museum.
The essay by Anne Violaine Houcke analyzes Pasolini’s final period, while Ara Merjan’s text deals with his esthetics. Marco Belpoliti explores the 1975 timeline, giving special attention to the political events most closely connected to Pasolini.
Anne Violaine Houcke is an art historian. Her work focuses on contemporary depictions of Antiquity, especially the audiovisual production of Fellini and Pasolini. She has taught at Yale, Pisa, and Rome.
Ara Merjian teaches Italian Studies at New York University. Among his subjects of interest are Pasolini and Italian esthetics and politics in the aftermath of WWII.
Marco Belpoliti is a writer, literary critic, and university professor. He also writes for the daily paper La Repubblica.
Exhibition
Rome, MAXXI | November 16, 2022 – March 12, 2023
PIER PAOLO PASOLINI. TUTTO È SANTO
5 Continents Editions is the publishing partner of an important series of exhibitions: Pier Paolo Pasolini. Tutto è Santo (Everything Is Sacred). This project will involve three different museums in Rome: Palazzo delle Esposizioni, Palazzo Barberini, and Museo MAXXI. Its goal is to explore a theme dear to Pasolini—sacredness—with a multidisciplinary approach that will shed a light on his main characteristics as a writer, director, and artist.
This important project, the title of which refers to a quote from the movie Medea (1969) in which the wise Chiron speaks of the mysterious sacredness of the world (of the world of the archaic, deeply religious underclass as opposed to the heroes of the rational, laic, bourgeois world), will be a conclusion to the year of celebrations organized on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of Pier Paolo Pasolini’s birth (Bologna, March 5, 1922 – Rome, November 2, 1975).
Each venue will adopt a specific approach, using different media, themes, original works, and archive documents, with the awareness of being part of a broader perspective that has the purpose of introducing an unprecedented reflection on Pasolini’s production and the cultural influence he exerted.
