Catalogue > At random

Silvia Giambrone

Traum

Film expérimental | digital | couleur | 4:29 | Italie | 2021

Traum means dream in German, but in Italian and English it sounds like the word trauma. With the performance and accompanying sculptures that comprise TRAUM, it is Silvia Giambrone’s intention to remind us of the dream-like reality that trauma can instigate. The artist has written the stories of those who struggle with traumatic memories on the ceramic sculptural sheets of paper, documenting the role their experiences have played in forming different parts of their identities and realities. In the artist’s own words, “TRAUM addresses domestic violence from the perspective of a survivor who goes in and out of the trauma when telling their condition. Sometimes survivors (both children and adults) act like onlookers because violence (trauma) gave them a detached perspective in order to survive. Sometimes, they find themselves immersed in it with no exit strategy. And other times they even feel like they were the abusers even if it rationally makes no sense.” As a piece of performance art, TRAUM aims to articulate the often painfully inexpressible and isolating aspects of trauma. Giambrone offers a space where audience members become collective witnesses to a shared experience of catharsis. Through the sound of the ceramic sheets breaking, Giambrone creates an opportunity to share and heal collectively.

Silvia Giambrone (Agrigento, 1981), who both lives and works between Rome and London, works about both the physical and invisible evidence of the strong connection between violence and the ‘subjectification’ process. She won the 2019 VAF Award, the most important prize for young Italian artists. She was an ambassador for Kaunas European City of Culture 2022. Some of her exhibitions include: W Women in Italian Design, Triennale Design Museum, Milan (2016); Corpo a corpo, La Galleria Nazionale, Rome (2017); Terra mediterranea: in action, NiMAC, Nicosia, Cyprus (2017); Wall- eyes. Looking at Italy and Africa, Keynes Art Mile, Johannesburg (2019); VII Premio Fondazione VAF, Stadtgalerie Kiel, Germany (2019); Sovvertimenti, Museo Novecento, Florence (2019); Nobody’s room. Anzi, parla, Museo del Novecento, Milan (2020); I say I, La Galleria Nazionale, Rome (2021); Hall of Shadows, Dior show FW2021, Versailles Castle, France (2021); Mascarilla 19 – Codes of domestic violence, LOOP Festival, Fundació Antoni Tàpies, Barcelona, Spain (2021); Mascarilla 19 – Codes of domestic violence, Castello di Rivoli, Rivoli, Italy (2021); Reclaiming and Making: Art, Desire, Violence, Museum Of Sex, New York, NY(2022); INTERTWINGLED – The role of the Rugs in Art, Craft and Design, La Galleria Nazionale, Rome (2022); Fine Arts Festival 2022, Los Angeles (2022); Female Feedback Film Festival, Los Angeles / Toronto (2022); Mill of performing Art, Larissa, Greece (2022); San Francisco Arthouse Festival, CA (2022); Accolade Global Film Festival, Los Angeles (2022); Ediplay International Film Festival, Paris (2022); London Indie Short Film Festival (2022); World of Film International Festival, Glasgow (2022); Florida shorts (2022); Some things, Nicola Del Roscio Foundation, Rome (2022); Turning Pain into Power, Kunst Mean (2022); Sensei Tokyo filmfest (2023); Tokyo Film award (2023); Reise nach Italien, Goethe house, Rome (2023) ; You owe me one, Prometeo Gallery, Milan (2023); Cinequest Film & VR Festival, San Jose, California (2023); Sexually explicit content, PAC Padiglione Arte Contemporanea, Milan (2023); Carmarthen Film Bay festival (2023); Tokyo Lift-Off Film Festival (2023); WorldFest-Houston International Film Festival (2023); L’incontro, Forof, Roma (2023).