AMARE E RESISTERE / IRRADIAZIONI TORINO

‘Together we are democracy, together we are light’

At the invitation of Mariachiara Guerra (Atelier Héritage) our light project took shape in Barriera di Milano: ‘the Bronx of Turin’ where stories of struggle, community, and resistance converge. In collaboration with, among others, Atelier Heritage, GAM Education (Galleria Civica d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea), Centro Studi Gobetti, Radio Banda Larga and the City of Turin Italy.

At the center of it all is Piero Gobetti—a young philosopher, politician, journalist, and poet who fought for democratic values during the rise of fascism. Together with his wife Ada, he formed a network of artists and intellectuals, including Antonio Gramsci.

To mark the 100th anniversary of Gobetti’s birth, we are delving into his writings and correspondence. Drawing on the archives of the Centro Studi Piero Gobetti, we, Femke Kempkes and Machteld Aardse, are exploring how love, resistance, and democracy intersect in the letters between Ada and Piero and how they resonate today.

GAM and Atelier Heritage are committed to bringing art beyond the museum’s walls and brought us together for this project. During workshops with young people from Barriera di Milano, we read, wrote, and visualised new stories. Their texts and images were transformed into analogue projections in the public space, initially for three overhead projectors, with the ambition to expand further next year with more analogue projections in the neighbourhood and back in the museum.

This unprecedented experiment is supported by the Embassy and Consulate General of the Kingdom of the Netherlands