On Tuesday December 1, ICI hosted a screening of Maria D. Rapicavoli’s newly commissioned film The Other: a familiar story, which was followed by a conversation between Rapicavoli and activist Maria Canela, and moderated by Srimoyee Mitra, Director of Stamps Gallery. Commissioned with support from the Italian Council for the Rubin Foundation’s exhibition To Cast Too Bold A Shadow, Rapicavoli’s two-channel film installation premiers in this thematic group show examining entrenched forms of misogyny. The film is a haunting story of an Italian woman forced into marriage, who leaves her family in Italy behind for the United States. Loosely based on a true story, it raises questions about the ethics of artmaking and curatorial practice that draw on lived experiences, specifically in the context of immigration. Together, Rapicavoli, Canela, and Mitra discussed ways in which trauma informs artistic practice, and the tensions between ethical representation and artistic license, especially during times of political instability.
The Other: a familiar story
Maria D. Rapicavoli, The Other: a familiar story, 2020. Two-channel video installation with sound, 19:40min. Video Still. Photo courtesy of MDR. Maria Rapicavoli’s project supported by the Directorate-General for Contemporary Creativity and Urban Regeneration by the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities and Tourism under the Italian Council program (2019). [Image Description: A woman sits at a long brown wooden table with faceless body mannequins in a room illuminated by sunlight. There are four white plates on the table with food on them and blue napkins.]
Dec 1, 2020
Srimoyee Mitra is a curator and writer whose work is invested in building empathy and mutual respect by bringing together meaningful and diverse works of art and design.
Maria D. Rapicavoli was born in Catania (Italy) and lives and works in New York.
Maria Canela is a writer and artivist from the Dominican Republic, living in the United States since 2006. She currently serves as the Community Coordinator at NYC Department of Cultural Affairs and is the mother of two incredible kids, Hans and Nadia.
This event was co-presented with The Rubin Foundation. The Rubin Foundation believes in art as a cornerstone of cohesive, sustainable communities, and greater participation in civic life. In its mission to make art available to the broader public, in particular to underserved communities, the Foundation provides direct support to and facilitates partnerships between, cultural organizations and advocates of social justice across the public and private sectors. Through grantmaking, the Foundation supports cross-disciplinary work connecting art with social justice via experimental collaborations, as well as extending cultural resources to organizations and areas of New York City in need. sdrubin.org
This program was supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with City Council, and the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature.
