'Popstairs' by Diavù: Street Art at the Trionfale Market

We weren't there for the cherries.

Diavù, center right, introducing his project in front of the Trionfale market.

On Wedesday just before noon, RST scootered over to Prati's sumptuous Trionfale market, though not to buy cherries--though they're in season--or anything else. We were there for the unveiling, as it were, of the latest work by street artist David Vecchiato (known in the art world as Diavù) in the Rome series "Popstairs" (that's not a translation).

Diavù

We arrived as an affable Diavù was speaking. Wearing a Che Guevara shirt, he explained that the paintings on the stairs leading up from the market were the latest in the Popstairs series, each of them featuring a female movie star, and he expressed gratitude at the reception that his work had received from those in the neighborhood.












The Trionfale paintings feature an iconic figure of Italian cinema--Anna Magnani.  The Magnani on the left staircase (below) is a young Magnani from the film Campo de' Fiori (dir. Mario Bonnard).

On the right staircase, an older Magnani, after Mamma Roma and Roma città aperta, her lined face a symbol, according to La Repubblica, not only of Italian film, but of romanità.

Right staircase.  Our best photo, and not that good., partly because too many people are trying to get in a photo with Diavù.  You'll have to go in person!

Right staircase, another angle.  

Feeding frenzy about to begin.

When the speakers finished, Diavù hung around to answer questions and accept congratulations. Photographers--and there were many--struggled to photograph the harshly backlit stair art.  Most of those in attendance headed for the buffet--pizza, finger sandwiches, and wine--all gratis thanks to the restaurant at the top of the stairs, PummaRe. RST could not resist, even at noon.

Vecchiato explained to us that the Italian actress series takes him at least 5 days per painting.  We talked about the StreetArtRoma app, which we regularly recommend, and he said that app makes him "proud" (that was in Italian too).  Vecchiato is clearly considered one of the most important street artists working in Rome today.

Dianne makes a fine point with Diavù.

This was not our first experience with Vecchiato's work.  As we mentioned to him, we had seen an earlier mural in the borgata of Finocchio, where a mafia estate had been expropriated and turned into a park.  Diavù was pleased that we had seen that one--not so easy to get to--and he noted that despite its political content, it had been carried out in something resembling a cartoon style.  We
wrote about the Finocchio mural earlier this year.

Our second encounter was in the Popstairs series, though we didn't know it at the time. It's on the stairs at via Ugo Bassi, just off viale Trastevere.  It depicts the actress Elena Sofia Ricci, the heroine of Luigi Magni's film, In nome del popolo sovrano (In the Name of the Sovereign People), set in 1849, and set partly in Trastevere.

We found another of  Diavù's paintings later that day, walking from Flaminio, past Ponte Milvio, to the intersection of Corsa Francia and via Ronciglione, where a portrait of French actress Michele Mercier graces portions of a very long and steep stairway (157 steps).  The image is from the comedy Il Giovedì, whose last scene takes place on this stairway.

The stairs off the north end of via Ronciglione

The art work is part of a cleaning up of these neighborhoods and locations, much of it done by volunteers.  Retake Roma (also not a translation - that's Italian) was part of the Trionfale initiative.
Volunteerism in Rome is a story for another day and post.

Vecchiato plans two more works in the series before the end of 2016: in EUR, of Monica Vitti, the young star of Antonioni's L'eclisse, which was set partly in EUR; and Gabriella Ferri, at her home in Testaccio.

We hope to see both, next year. And another, completed, that we haven't seen, of Ingrid Bergman, in via Fiamignano.
Bill    

Finocchio and the Collina della Pace: Anti-Mafia Street Art

Finocchio, a suburb of Rome 18km out the historic via Casilina on the city's east side, has an illustrious ancient history and now, a present worth visiting.  Settlement here dates to pre-Roman times--though we're not aware that anything can be seen above ground from that era--and Finocchio is not far from what remains of the pre-Roman community of Gabii.  Otherwise, it's much like dozens of other similar towns: apartments, a few shops, a bar where one can buy a drink or a lottery ticket.

Today, what makes the community just a bit unusual is a small park along the main road.  Inaugurated in 2007 by then Rome Mayor Walter Veltroni, it's called Collina della Pace (Hill of Peace), a name that refers, with much irony, to its previous owner, mafia boss Enrico Nicoletti, treasurer of the notorious Banda della Magliana gang that brought chaos to Rome in the late 1970s.






As a large wall dedication explains, the park commemorates Giuseppe "Peppino" Impostato, who comes to our story with his own curious history.  Peppino himself was born into a mafia family in 1948, yet he took a different course.

Peppino Impostato (right) with Danilo
Dolci, 1967

Rather than a life of crime and corruption, Peppino distinguised himself as a poet, a giornalist, and a
peace activist--he participated in a 1967 peace protest organized by social reformer Danilo Dolci (whom we met in Sicily in 1962). In May 1978--during the violent political conflicts of the time known as the anni di piombo (years of lead), while a candidate in municipal elections, Peppino was assassinated.

Diavù at work

Although sometimes described as the only green space in Finocchio, the park is in most ways unexceptional; indeed, one's impression of the park is that it's not even all that green. However, it gains a certain presence from its origins: the land was confiscated from its mafia owner in 2001. Then, in 2014, its main wall was graced by a significant piece of anti-mafia street art, a mural by the well-known artist David Vecchiato (known in the art world as Diavù).  



The project was coordinated by M.U.Ro. (Museo di Urban Art di Roma), represented at the end of the mural by the boxed letters M,U,R, and O. We're not sure to what "da Sud" refers.

Finocchio residents, likely gathered for the mural dedication in 2014

While the main themes of the mural--opposition to the mafia, the celebration of peace, and the grasp of capitalism--seem clear enough, elements of it are less so.

Why the reference to "slot-machine"?  And what is the meaning of the words "L'antimafia non ha bisogna di eroi" (The anti-mafia has no need of heroes)?  Do they refer to the martyrdom of Peppino Impostato?  Or to something else?   Who is "il biondo di Kosovo" (the blond from Kosovo)?

"Ecomostro: Pollution as monster, tightening its grip around (a factory chimney?).  What's with the white hand--in a skirt, with Minnie Mouse high heels?  

Walking hands (male figures, apparently), carrying a love Rome sign?  Hashtag MAMMAMAFIA?  

Men and women, holding up signs extolling the good things in life: welfare (in English!), home, rights, income, about to be hooked and consumed by the slot machine.

The park is located on the north side of via Casilina, at via Bolognetta.  And the mural can be located on, and is explained at, the Street Art Roma app, which we recommend (the app is better than the Web site).
Bill