The project for the Sala 1 space involves around ten young Sardinian artists who, from 28 September until the end of 2007, will exhibit a single work. Thus, in a dynamic and plural way, the MAN wants to support and give visibility to youth creativity and artistic production, documenting its activity and encouraging its dissemination and information.
The cycle begins with the exhibition Cruel Fairy Tales, curated by Roberta Vanali, which sees the works of six artists drawing inspiration from fairy tales. The fairy tale, the eternal human story, is examined as a useful tool for understanding existence, in particular for decoding those dark sides that are hidden in it. «Fairy tales are a general explanation of life, born in ancient times and preserved in the slow rumination of peasant consciences up to the present day; they are the catalog of destinies that can be given to a man and a woman”, this is how Italo Calvino defines them. Drawing inspiration from the anthropological roots of legend and popular tales, such as oral traditions that narrate fears and beliefs, which allow the dissemination of universal messages through a simplified metaphorical language, six Sardinian painters from different backgrounds and experiences were invited to reflect on this theme. different cultures.
Characterized by common stylistic features and recurring motifs, the fairy tale proves to be appropriate for dissecting those more or less occult aspects of human nature, since – as Calvino would underline – fairy tales are true because they are capable of describing anxieties and dramas.
The exhibition aims to highlight how the dark aspects of existence are intrinsic to the culture and collective imagination of fairy tales and legends, demonstrating how current they are still and how particularly suitable they prove to be to explore the human soul through often cruel symbols and metaphors.
Structured into six events lasting a week each, the exhibition will present one work and one story at a time, accompanied by educational workshops designed specifically for the occasion and curated by the artists themselves.
On September 28th the Pietro Sedda exhibition opens with the work entitled Sacroiliac , inspired by Alberto Ribè’s African fairy tale “The Black Hands of the Monkey”; followed by Silvia Argiolas, who examines “Little Red Riding Hood” in its original version to highlight the scourge of prostitution. Alessio Onnis investigates man’s inability to accept the inexorable passage of time with Carmilla , the bloodthirsty countess inspired by Erzsebeth Bathory who had 600 virgins killed to bathe in their blood, while Giuliano Sale takes inspiration from the classic “Hansel and Gretel.” Pastorello uses the parameters of the traditional fairy tale to invent the fairy tale of the anomalous with the work The little blue bird of the enchanted forest , and finally Gavino Ganau closes the exhibition with a triptych inspired by the cinematic fairy tale.
