Formafantasma's acclaimed project 'Moulding Tradition' will be part of the exhibition 'Palermo Felicissima' in the Italian Pavilion of the 2012 Shanghai Biennial. The exhibition is curated by Laura Barreca and Davide Quadrio and on display at the Museum of Contemporary Art of Shanghai, China.
'Moulding Tradiation' was informed by the ongoing Sicilian ceramic tradition of 'teste di moro', copies of 17th century vases from the Caltagirone region of Sicily that portray a grotesque Moorish face. The tradition refers to an earlier era in Sicily's history when the Moorish invasion of the area introduced majolica to Europe. Over ten centuries later the same people that once occupied Sicily, bringing their cultural heritage that helped make Caltagirone famous, are returning, not as conquerors but as immigrants. Through 'Moulding Tradition', Formafantasma document these contradictions while questioning attitudes towards immigration and national identity as read through artefacts and the custom of craft to mindlessly perpetuate the past.
September 17, 2012