The word UN (HIDDEN) refers as much to the meticulous work of unveiling carried out by the artists as to the subjects that they endeavor to tell, in this case the multiple marginal and veiled experiences of a resistant ritual, embodied in religious as well as secular practices from New York to Cape Town via Palermo.
Nicola Lo Calzo
The Binidittu photographic project documents the life of Saint Benedict the Moor, a 16th century Catholic saint and is part of a larger research on the memories of the colonial slavery of African diasporas in the Atlantic world, the CHAM project .
The BINIDITTU series explores the story of Saint Benedict, the invisible saint, because probably the son of black-skinned African slaves whom Sicilians worshiped during his lifetime (a discreet life doing good), over time , the figure quickly became subversive. During his lifetime he had acquired an incredible reputation followed by several centuries of oblivion.
Today Binidittu offers itself as an updated symbol of universal citizenship and forges relations between migrants and the local population despite a very deep gap.
Sicily uses the myth of St Benedict to develop local initiatives for integration and social peace in order to avoid economic and social exclusion.
The REGLA series covers work carried out in Cuba in 2015 and 2016, far from clichés for tourists and the touting slogans that followed those of the Revolution.
Regla reveals the life of Cubans, descendants of Maroon slaves, members of secret societies, followers of voodoo practices as much as hip-hop or rap, heirs of ancestral mysteries perpetuated by secret ceremonies, authorized or not.
(UN)HIDDEN
Nicola Lo CALZO, Rut BLEES LUXEMBURG, Chantal REGNAULT, Sue WILLIAMSON
Curator Nicola Lo Calzo
January 13 – February 27, 2021
Galerie Dominique Fiat
16 Rue des Coutures Saint-Gervais
75003 Paris, France
