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Marinella Senatore (Italy, 1977). Lives and works in Rome and Paris.

Trained in music, fine arts and film, Senatore is a multi-disciplinary artist and her practice is characterized by a strong collective and participatory dimension.

Senatore’s work merges forms of resistance, vernacular and popular culture, dance and music, mass events and activism, rethinking the political nature of collective formations (“Assembly”) and enable the public to generate a potential for social change. Intertwining with the artist’s personal autographical experiences and collective shared narratives, her practice encompasses collage, performance, sculpture, photography and video.

In 2013 she found The School of Narrative Dance, a nomadic, free of charge school focused on non-hierarchical learning and emancipation. The multidisciplinary school, conceived as alternative training ground, is characterized by free workshops engaging local groups and by public energetic, soulful processions, where the artist and participants together orchestrate narratives, tracing new connection between contemporary relations.

Her work has been exhibited widely throughout Italy and abroad, including:MANIFESTA 12, Palermo; Centre Pompidou, Paris; MAXXI Museum, Rome; Queens Museum, NY; Kunsthaus Zurich; Castello di Rivoli, Turin; Kunsthalle, Sankt Gallen; Palais de Tokyo, Paris; Schirn Kunsthalle, Frankfurt; Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago; Museum of Contemporary Art, Santa Barbara; High Line, NY; Madre Museum, Naples; Les Laboratories d’Aubervilliers, Paris; Faena Art Forum, Miami; Bozar, Brussels; Kunstverein Ar/Ge Kunst, Bolzano; CRAC Alsace, Altkirch; Centre of Contemporary Art, Torun; Petach Tikva Museum of Art; Sandretto Re Rebaudengo Foundation, Turin; Serpentine Gallery, London; ISCP, New York; La Triennale, Milan; Palazzo Strozzi, Florence CCA, Tel Aviv; Le Magasin Centre National d’Art Contemporain, Grenoble; Extra City Kunsthal, Antwerp; MAC Musée d’art

contemporain de Montréal, Canada; ICA, Richmond, Virginia, US; BAK Basis voor Actuele Kunst, Utrecht; Centro de Arte Dos de Mayo, Madrid; Palazzo Grassi, Venice; Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam; Moderna Museet, Stockholm.

UABB Bi, Shenzhen, 2017; Biennale de Lyon, 2015; Thessaloniki Biennale, 2015; Liverpool Biennale, 2014; Shiryaevo Biennale, 2013; Athens Biennale, 2013; Havana Biennale, 2012; Moscow International Biennale for Young Art, 2012; 7th Göteborg International Biennial for Contemporary Art , 2013; Contour-Biennial of the Moving Image, Mechelen, Belgium, 2013; Bienal de Cuenca, Ecuador, 2014, 54th Venice Biennale «ILLUMinations», 2011.With the upmost honour, Senatore is the winner of the 4t h edition of Italian Council (2018) of the Directorate-General for Contemporary Art and Architecture and Urban Peripheries (DGAAP) that will result a unique collaboration with Castello di Rivoli Museo d’Arte Contemporanea, Turin and IZIKO South African National Gallery, Cape Town in 2019.

In 2017, the artist was awarded with the International Art Grant in Dresden, Germany including a residency program. In 2014 Senatore won the prestigious MAXXI Prize and was the recipient of the “Museum Calls Artist” commission of AMACI, the Association of Italian Contemporary Art Museums. In 2013 she won the Fellowship for Young Italian Artists at Castello di Rivoli, Turin. In 2011 Senatore was an Affiliated Fellow at The American Academy in Rome and a finalist for the Furla Art Award. In 2010 she won The New York Prize, the 21st Bellisario Award, the Gotham Prize and the Terna Prize. In 2009 she was the recipient of Dena Foundation Fellowship.

In addition to teaching at various universities, the artist regularly lectures at international institutions such as the Guggenheim Museum, NY; Creative Time Summit, NY and Venice; Spike Island, Bristol; ICA-Institute of Contemporary Arts, London; Foundation d’Entreprise Ricard, Paris; NYU, Berlin; ERG, Brussels; University of Madrid; University of Granada; University of Turin; Beursschouwbug, Brussels; Academy of Fine Arts, Mechelen; NABA New Academy of Fine Arts, Milan; Kunstverein Ar/Ge Kunst, Bolzano.

THESCHOOL OFNARRATIVEDANCE

In 2013 Marinella Senatore founded The School of Narrative Dance, focused on the idea of storytelling as an experience that can be explored choreographically, on non-hierarchical learning, self-training and the creation of an active citizenship through informal education. Nomadic and free of charge, the School takes different forms depending on the spaces it temporarily occupies, and proposes an alternative system of education, based on emancipation, inclusion, and self-cultivation.

SOND offers a wide range of classes in subjects such as literature, oral history, carpentry, art history, crafts, photography, arithmetic, drama, choreography, cinematic language, etc., encouraging individuals to share their skills or achieve new ones, building new groups and ideas of community. To date, the School‘s projects – produced by Institutions, Museums and Foundations – have been developed in several countries in Europe and US, with the involvement of political activists, scholars, artisans, illiterate people, students, housewives, musicians, writers, worker unions, retired, teachers, feminist choirs and Alpines.

The work uses dance as a common language through which to celebrate the vernacular, amateur, and professionally trained gestures of the participants.

Performance, photography, video, video tutorial, installation, drawing, collage, banner, riso print, sculpture, painting

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Parades: Brass Band 2018 Collage, brass band music scores from last century, drawing, acrylic and mixed mediacm 50 x 70, framed eachCollection: MAXXI, Rome

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The School of Narrative Dance: Dance First, Think Later 2018 Collage and acrylic on vegetable cardboard cm 29 x 21 each

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The School of Narrative Dance, Shenzhen 2017 Fine Art Print on Hahnemühle paper cm 80 x 105, framed

The School of Narrative Dance: Venice Parade 2015 Fine Art Prints on Hahnemühle papercm 80 x 105, framed Private collection

The School of Narrative Dance, Berlin Parade 2012 Fine Art Prints on Hahnemühle papercm 80 x 105 , framedPrivate collection

The School of Narrative Dance: Little Chaos 2013 Fine Art Prints on Hahnemühle papercm 160 x 300, framed Produced by Musei Civici and Comune of Cagliari, Italy Private collection

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Exploring new ways of moving while forming new elective communities in the process 2016 Risograph prints cm 42 x 30, framedPrivate collection

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The School of Narrative Dance, Roma2014 Classroom designed in collaboration with ASSEMBLE STUDIO, London Wood, sand, towers, fabric, dance mats, mixed media Dimension determined by the spaceCollection : MAXXI, Rome

The School of Narrative Dance, Queens2014Installation: Dance floor 4,50 x 10 mt, 5 DVD players, 5 monitors, wall painting, mixed mediaInstallation views at Queens Museum

The School of Narrative Dance: Rivoli2013 Installation: Dance floor 4,50 x 10 mt, 5 DVD players, 5 monitors, wall painting, mixed mediaInstallation views at Castello di RivoliPhotos by R. GhiazzaCollection: Ruben Levi, Turin

The School of Narrative dance 2013 5 tutorials, color, sound 3 mins each Stills from video

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Piazza Universale/Social Stages – the entrance2017 - 2019Installation: wood, painting, mixed media Dimension determined by the space Installation view at Queens Museum, NYC (right) and association for contemporary art, Graz (left)Photo H. Zhang (left) and T. Raggam (right)

Protest Forms: Memory and Celebration explores the multifaceted forms and rich legacies of protest in different countries, while also engaging with ecology of affiliation, empowerment, and belonging. The artist articulates her long term interest in the role that the collective crowd, dance and music play into the creation of temporary communities united in demonstrating resistance.

Text by Matteo Lucchetti

PROTEST FORMS: MEMORY AND CELEBRATIONPerformance, drawing, installation, banner, sculpture, luminaries, UV print, wallpaper, painting

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Parades: Brass Band2018Collage, brass band music scores from last century, drawing, acrylic and mixed mediacm 50 x 70, framed

Protest Drums 2019 LED, neon, mixed drum set, women hair, mixed media Various dimensionInstallation view at association of contemporary artPhoto T. Raggam

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It’s time to go back to street2019 20 drawings graphite on paper and wallpapercm 21 x 29, framed

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GIVE YOUR DAUGHTERS DIFFICULT NAMES2018Installation: Luminarie, LED bulbs and wooden structuresDimension determined by the spaceInstallation view at High Line, NYPhoto T. Schenck

ASSEMBLY 2018 Double sided wooden Structure and LED Bulbs 400 cm DiameterPhoto D. Stahl

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Sisters be strong 2016 Collage, acrylic and golden ink archive material on vegetable cardboard cm 70 x 50 cm, framedPrivate Collection

Remember the first time you saw your name 2016 Collage, acrylic and golden ink archive material on vegetable cardboard cm 70 x 50 cm, framedPrivate Collection

The New Feminism 2016 Collage, acrylic and golden ink archive material on vegetable cardboard acm 70 x 50 cm, framedPrivate Collection

Musicians will be heard 2016 Collage and acrylic archive material on vegetable cardboard cm 70 x 50 cm, framedPrivate Collection

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PALERMO PROCESSION (PROCESSIONE RI PALIERMO)2018Banner, drawings on fabriccm 100 x 70Photo F. Bellina

A CANUSCENZA È PUTIRI (KNOWLEDGE IS POWER)2018Bannercm 50 x 70Photo F. Bellina

NUATRI SJAMO FIMMINI SJAMO FORTI (WE ARE WOMEN WE ARE STRONG)INSIEME SJAMO ADDRITTA SPAITTITTI CÀREMU (UNITED WE STAND DIVIDED WE FALL)20182 bannerscm 40 x 40 eachPhoto F. Bellina

Les Douleurs Sont Des Rêves Brisés2018Bannercm 100 x 70Photo S. Sapienza

NOMADIC AND POLYVOCAL2018Bannercm 100 x 70Photo S. Sapienza

TU TI LAMENTI MA CHI TI LAMENTI PIGGHIA LU BASTUNI E TIRA FOR A LI DENTI2018Bannercm 150 x 90Photo F. Bellina

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Because of sadness there is music, because of sadness there is dance2017Banner cm 70 x 100

Copenhagen Symphony - Face is a small riot2017Bannercm 70 x 100

The Struggle Continues2017Bannercm 250 x 50

911 is a joke in yo town2018Bannercm 70 x 100

BODIES IN ALLIANCE / POLITICS OF THE STREET2019

Physical Geographies and Persistent Bodiesby Sean O’Toole

In November 2018, three members of Pussy Riot, an open-membership collective whose methodology centres on pre-planned public actions, visited Cape Town at the invitation of Italian artist Marinella Senatore. Well known in Europe for her participatory performances and parades, one of which involved 20,000 participants, Senatore viewed the invitation as a gift. Ever since five members of Pussy Riot staged a protest against the re-election of Vladimir Putin in the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow in 2012, this agitprop group has used the “persistence” of their bodies, to quote American philosopher Judith Butler, to draw global attention to social conditions in contemporary Russia.

The conviviality of Pussy Riot’s direct-action methodology was evidence again when, in July 2018, they invaded the pitch during the finals of World Cup tournament in Moscow. Dressed as policemen, Olga Kurachyova, Veronika Nikulshina, Olga Pakhtusova and Pyotr Verzilov ran onto the pitch during the lacklustre final between Croatia and France. While Nikulshina’s high-fiving of footballer Kylian Mbappe became a defining image of the action, far less acknowledged was the conceptual justification for the action. Pussy Riot dedicated their action to artist and poet Dmitri Prigov (1940-2007), who wrote about the pervasive figure of the Russian policeman during the Soviet era.

All four Pussy Riot members were subsequently detained for 15 days. Two months later Verzilov was admitted to hospital on suspicion of poisoning. “I find the censorship of Russian artists very cruel,” says Senatore. “I wanted to expose the Pussy Riot activists to a relaxing time in Cape Town, as well as place them in a completely different context to what they are usualy exposed to.” Three of the four Pussy Riot members who participated in the World Cup action accepted Senatore’s invitation to visit Cape Town – Verzilov was too ill to travel from Israel, where he was convalescing.

During their two-week visit, Kurachyova, Nikulshina and Pakhtusova met with various artists and activists. But home, and all its complications, remained unavoidable, a haunting spectre that they invited South Africans to consider. “There are many things in common between Russia and South Africa, but the one thing we don’t have in common: here

Photography, embodied dress, sculpture, drawing, wallpaper, light installation, sound

in South Africa there is really working freedom of speech, working NGOs, and so on,” said Kurachyova during a press briefing. “In Russia we don’t have such things.”

Towards the end of their stay, on 29 November, Pussy Riot released a statement through its official Instagram channel expressing solidarity with Russian musicians being targeted by the Federal Security Service (FSB). “Artists in Russia are being banned like in Soviet times, many concerts are cancelled,” read the post. It went to detail how musicians IC3PEAK, Husky, FrendZona and Allj had all recently experienced state harassment. A day after the post was published Kurachyova, Nikulshina and Pakhtusova staged an unannounced action in Cape Town.

During the bustle and heave of a Friday night at EVOL, an underground nightclub on Hope Street that has long been a safe space for Cape Town’s LGBTI community, the DJ crossfaded to a song by electronic duo IC3PEAK. Wearing their signature knitted masks, the Pussy Riot activists climbed onto the stage and danced. Photographic documentation of this ephemeral action appears on Senatore’s debut solo exhibition in South Africa, Bodies in Alliance / Politics of the Street.

Senatore’s exhibition presents work in diverse media – drawings, paintings, photographs, light sculptures and audio-visual installations – and offers a broad overview of her artistic strategies and material interests. It also gives insight into the artist’s personal avatars. The title of the exhibition directly references a 2011 lecture in Italy by Judith Butler. Titled “Bodies in Alliance and the Politics of the Street,” the lecture was a response to

the tumultuous presentness of the occupy movement and Arab Spring (more formally, it was also an intellectual argument with Hannah Arendt). “For politics to take place, the body must appear,” argued Butler. “I appear to others, and they appear to me, which means that some space between us allows each to appear.” Much of Senatore’s practice since 2006, when she began exploring participatory practices involving social activists and non-artists – pretty much anyone with a sense of fun and appreciation for the necessity and immediacy of the commons – bears out Butler’s assertion that action is “invariably bodily”.

Writing in her 2015 book Notes Toward A Performative Theory of Assembly, Butler argues that collaborative action can be “an embodied form of calling into question the inchoate and powerful dimensions of reigning notions of the political”. Pussy Riot’s action at EVOL, which the group allowed Senatore to document, and also to situate within the larger archive of her own socially engaged practice, offers a practical elaboration of Butler’s theoretical arguments. Bodies perform, bodies resist.

As is evident from her collaboration with Pussy Riot, Senatore is not a prescriptive collaborator. If anything, she views herself as a trigger. “I want to activate things, not control things,” she says. “I am interested in the public meaning of performative action, the meaning of assembly, and the emancipation of people.” Consequnetially, participants in her work are not constellations or infrastructures; they are vital and unavoidable bodies. Tangibility, that haptic opposite of virtuality, also matters to Senatore. “My projects cannot exist without real experience.”

Senatore’s thinking is greatly influenced by Butler, who is an intellectual lodestar for the artist – who initially trained as a classical violinist before embarking on her art career. Senatore’s exhibition includes a copy of Butler’s Notes Toward A Performative Theory of Assembly in the audio-visual installation How People Became Army (2018). A convivial space of pause and intellectual replenishment, the installation recalls the precarious spaces fashioned by activists at Zuccotti Park and Tahrir Square, well-known people’s assemblies that included improvised libraries and spaces for reflection.

Senatore’s library exhibits her preference for contemporary aesthetics and social theory – she is, after all, a doctoral student at University of Castile-La Mancha in Spain. Alongside Butler’s book there are texts by, among others, Nicolas Bourriaud, Jacques Rancière and Nadya Tolokonnikova, a Pussy Riot member jailed in 2012 for “hooliganism” after the church performance. How People Became Army also includes an audio component that explores resistance across multiple geographies and temporalities. The selection includes Sicilian folk icon Rosa Balistreri (“I’m not a singer, I’m an activist who makes speeches on the guitar,” she once said) and Jennifer Reid’s renditions of 19th-century English worker ballads.

The installation also includes an interview with Carlos Aponte of the Young Lords, a Puerto Rican activist organisation founded in Chicago in 1959. Senatore linked up with the Young Lords during a 2017 survey of her practice at the Queens Museum, New York. “Research is the biggest part of my work,” she says. First-hand encounters, she insists, are pivotal to her rhizomatic and horizontal way of networking and collaborating. Senatore, who first visited Cape Town in 2018, is using the occasion of her SMAC exhibition to further her research on South Africa for a planned show at the Iziko South African National Gallery in late 2019.

Sean O’Toole is a writer and editor based in Cape Town

Bodies in Alliance / Politics of the Street V 2019 Lightjet Print, Diasec and Acrylic Fabric cm 90 x 135

Bodies in Alliance / Politics of the Street III 2019 Lightjet Print, Diasec and Acrylic Fabric cm 90 x 135

Bodies in Alliance / Politics of the Street IV 2019 Lightjet Print, Diasec and Acrylic Fabric cm 90 x 135

Bodies in Alliance / Politics of the Street I 2019 Lightjet Print, Diasec and Acrylic Fabric cm 90 x 135

Bodies in Alliance / Politics of the Street II 2019 Lightjet Print, Diasec and Acrylic Fabric cm 90 x 135

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Bodies in Alliance / Politics of the Street2019Installation views at SMAC Gallery, Cape Town, SA

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Everybody can be Pussy Riot 2019 Mirror Tiles, Modified Cloth Balaclava, Cement Bust, Aluminium, Wood and Framed Photographic Print Dimensions Variable

Debut D’une Lutte Prolongee 2019 Neon Tubing cm 95 x 176

La Lutte Continue 2019 Neon Tubing cm 120 x 120

Feminist Podium 2019 Led Light, Mirror Tiles, PA System, Aluminum and Wood cm 136 x 84 x 71

How People Become Army 2017 – 2019 Headphones, MP 3 Players cm 95 x 176Dimensions Variable

CLUB IS THE NEW CHURCH2019

Collective project with Russian activists, Pussy Riot, local artists and performers in Cape Town, South Africa

Club is the New Church represents the aggregated system in the society that originates from a contemporary pop culture phenomenon. The project was inspired by the underground night life. The significance of night life is converted into a notion of assembly. Progressively, underground night clubs have long been a safe space for LGBTQI communities.

Such approach changes the conventional social structure. By adopting the contemporary quote by the pop culture, it shows the sense of resistance and replace the lack of gatherness.

The outcome of the work expresses solidarity with Russian musicians being targeted by the Federal Security Service (FSB).

Installation, photography

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Club is the New Church 2019 Fine art print on Hahnemühle Photo Rag, acrylic curtains and mixed media

CAN ONE LEAD A GOOD LIFE IN BAD LIFE?2019Collage, photography

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Can one lead a good life in a bad life? 2019Fine Art Print on Epson Hot Press paper, mosaic mirror tiles, rope, moldable graphite, archival images, glass outliner, framedcm 50 x 70 each

REHEARSALS FOR THE CROWD2019Collage, photography

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Rehearsals for the Crowd2019 Collage, digital print, horses hair, mosaic mirror tiles, rope, archival images, mixed media on cardboard and canvascm 80 x 120 each

NUI SIMU (That’s us)2010

Conceived by thirty illiterate retired miners from the Sicilian town of Enna in collaboration with students from the University of Catania, the project was an open workshop for one month, where participants took on the roles of non-professional actors, costume designers, camera operators, set designers, etc. The local community was involved in different ways: residents shared their skills and expertise (i.e., bakers offered free catering for the entire crew, taxi drivers provided transportations for free, local hairdressers prepared actors for the shooting every day), negotiating with the artist the role they would have played in the project.

Video, photography, installation

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NUI SIMU 2011 HD video, stereo 15’ Variable dimension Installation view at Premio Furla. Palazzo Pepoli, BolognaPrivate collection

Nui Simu (That’s us) 2010 Fine Art Print on Hahnemühle papercm 80 x 105Private collection

HOW U KILL THE CHEMIST2009

How Do U Kill the Chemist portrays a series of real events that happened in NY State in the Fifties. Groups of rappers from Harlem took part as both actors and scriptwriters, while residents of Hudson City were involved as non direct witnesses of the narrated events.

Produced thanks to the Fellowship of the Dena Foundation, Paris

Video, photography, drawing, installation

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How Do U Kill the Chemist – Portraits 2009 20 C-Prints on paper cm 60 x 40 each, framedInstallation view at Castello di Rivoli, TurinPrivate collection

How Do U Kill the Chemist – Portraits 2009 20 C-Prints on paper cm 60 x 40 each, framed

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How do u kill the chemist – Script2009 Bic pen on paper 130 x 45 cm, framedInstallation view at Castello di RivoliPrivate collection

How do u kill the chemist – Storyboard 2009 Charcoal on paper40 x 30 cm each, framedInstallation view at Castello di RivoliPrivate collection

How Do U Kill the Chemist – The Story 2009 SD video, 4:3, color, sound 8’10” Stills from video

PROTEST BIKE2016 - 2018

Protest Bike is conceived as both an installation and a public intervention, launched in Paris in 2016. Voicing ‘the complaint’ is the focus of the project, as a universal phenomenon that could be organized in any city. Citizens are welcome to use the bike for personal or choral public protest without cultural or thematic limit, an open platform offering alternative forms of public demonstration and action. Any slogan or lament can be shouted, declaimed or simply recounted while cycling on the Protest Bike also understood as an act of physical effort that underlines the participant’s will to express themselves.

Sculpture, video, installation

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Protest Bike Paris 2017Chopper bike, megaphones, sound, flags, mixed media Installation view at Kunsthaus Zürich

Protest Bike Paris 2016 Chopper bike, megaphones, sound, flags, mixed media Installation view at Mostyn, Llandudno, UK

Protest Bike Paris 2017Chopper bike, megaphones, sound, flags, mixed media Installation view at Extra City Kunsthal, Antwerpen

Protest Bike, Paris2016 Chopper bike, megaphones, sound, flags, mixed media Installation view at Centre RECOLLETS, Paris

Protest Bike Dresden2018Chopper bike, megaphones, sound, flags, LED lights, mixed media Installation view at Schirn Kunsthalle, FrankfurtPhoto by N. Miguletz

ROSAS2012

ROSAS is an Opera for the screen in three Acts made by 20.000 participants: Perfect Lives, The Attic and Public Opinion Descends upon the Demonstrators, respectively produced in Berlin, Derby (UK) and Madrid. Working with local association, schools, individuals and self-organized groups, professionals and amateurs, who contributed to every step of its production, from writing the original Libretto to directing the final film.

The trilogy is made in German, English and Spanish, as well as English and Spanish Sign Languages. The artist left sets and technical equipment at the disposal of the local communities, encouraging further spontaneous contribution.

Produced by Künstlerhaus Bethanien (Berlin), QUAD (Derby, UK) and Matadero (Madrid).

Video, photography, drawing, poster, banner, installation

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Rosas – Opera in 3 Acts 2012 Installation:3 HD videos 23’, 35’, 20’ each, 10 Hantarex monitors (7 mute, 3 sound), 10 DVD players, 3 headphones Installation views at Kunst Halle Sankt Gallen, CH Photo G. MeierCollection: Castello di Rivoli, Turin

ROSAS – The Trilogy2012 Stills from video

ROSAS TEA BAR 2015

Rosas Tea Bar comes into being as part of ROSAS and today is proposed as autonomous work and present itself as participatory space available to visitors who can perform and to drink a cup of tea, socialise and have fun. Rosas Tea Bar is an installation that reproduces the facet of an actual tea bar in United Kingdom. During the shooting of the video ROSAS (the second chapter of The Trilogy), owners of the tea bar offered free tea to participants as an act of social contribution and participation.

It is the first as an actual production set defined by plasterboard walls, mirrors, dance bars, cinema lighting, and a professional movie camera. Here one may make films, photographs, dance sessions, or stage other performances with the possibility of recording them. Available to visitors, who may book use of the set through the Museums and Institutions hosting it, like in the case of Rosas Tea Bar, offering people the opportunity to express their own individual creativity, socialize, and have fun.

Installation, participatory space

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Rosas – Tea Bar 2015Neon, wood, monitor with video Variable dimension Installation views at ABC – Art Berlin Contemporary 2015Photo H. G. Gaul

ROSAS MOVIE SET 2012

Rosas – Movie Set is the real set built by non-professional carpenters in UK for the shooting of the second chapter of The Trilogy. It is an actual production set defined by wooden walls, mirrors, dance bars, cinema lighting, and a professional movie camera, that allows visitors to make films, photographs, dance sessions, or stage other performances with the possibility of recording them. Available to visitors can book for free the use of the set through the Museums and Institutions hosting it, Rosas – Movie Set exemplifies Senatore’s idea of a work as an open platform, within which the artist’s role is to unleash production processes offering people the opportunity to express their own individual creativity.

Installation, participatory space

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Rosas – Movie Set 2012 Wood, Fresnel lamps 2000W, 500W, 650W, fog machine, dance bars, mirrorsDimensions determined by the space Installation view at Castello di Rivoli, Turin Photo R. Ghiazza

Rosas – Movie Set 2012 Wood, Fresnel lamps 2000W, 500W, 650W, fog machine, dance bars, mirrorsDimensions determined by the space Installation view at Castello di Rivoli, Turin Photo R. Ghiazza

Rosas Map 2012 Drawing – Pencil and sharpie on PVC cm 210 x 300

Rosas: Public opinion descends upon the demonstrators 2012 Fine Art Print on Hahnemühle paper cm 80 x 105, framedPrivate collections

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Rosas: Public opinion descends upon the demonstrators 2012 Fine Art Print on Hahnemühle paper cm 80 x 105, framedPrivate collections

Rosas: Public opinion descends upon the demonstrators 2012 Fine Art Print on Hahnemühle paper cm 80 x 105, framedPrivate collection

Rosas: Public opinion descends upon the demonstrators 2012 Fine Art Print on Hahnemühle paper cm 80 x 105, framedPrivate collection

SPEAK EASY2009 - 2017

Participants took an active hand in the creative process from its very first stages: the original screenplay was conceived and written by a neighborhood association from the outskirts of Madrid and by hundreds of students from the Complutense University.

They all worked in concert with retired carpenters, local seamstresses, craftsmen and professional actors to build the set, make costumes and prepare themselves for each role of the production. Radio stations, free press, social networks and works-of-mouth publicized the “1€ para ser Production” fundraising campaign, which got over 1200 citizens to pitch in. By donating 1 euro, they became the project’s producers, actively taking part in its most important meetings.

Produced by 1200 citizens of Madrid.

Video, drawing, collage, painting, sculpture, installation

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Speak Easy 2013 Installation: HD video projection on forex panel 15’ 30”, monitor B/W video, mute, 3’ Dimension determined by the space Installation view at Castello di Rivoli, Turin Photo Renato GhiazzaPrivate collection

Speak Easy 2013 Collage, painting and mixed media on vegetable cardboard, cm 50 x70 and cm 100 x 70 Installation view at Castello Rivoli, Turin Photo R. GhiazzaPrivate collection

Speak Easy 2017 Installation: wallpainting, flat screen, self-standing wooden structure, headphones, chairs, collages, LED display, drawings and tables Installation view at Queens Museum, NYC Photo H. Zhang

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Speak Easy- Collage2009-2013Collage, painting and mixed media on vegetable cardboardcm 50 x 70 and cm 100 x 70 each, framed

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MODICA STREET MUSICAL2016 - 2017

The new public work by Marinella Senatore: Modica Street Musical – The Present, The Past and The Possible, is a 4 hours long musical travelling around the city of Modica, with two ACTS and an INTERMEZZO, The musical is entirely composed and interpreted with the collaboration of over a hundred inhabitants of Modica and the surrounding area. Modica Street Musical is inspired by public ceremonies, the civil and religious rituals of the Italian tradition, and festivals and mass events, interweaving this intangible heritage with the format of the street musical. Modica Street Musical weaves together some of the formats used by Senatore in the past – from the cinema set to the theatre production, passing through the school of narrative dance for nonprofessionals – in order to reflect on the political nature of collective formations and on their impact on the social history of places and communities. Forms of protest by oppressed minorities re-emerge from the past of Sicily in the guise of music, choreographies, and storytelling, to merge with the repertoires of bands, groups and other collective creations troupes composed by younger generations. The exchange between the legacy and the present is built through a new popular vocabulary that brings the musical back to its origins: a 19th Century North American society show genre for lower classes. The migrants, coming from the most diverse origins, in fact, found in this genre the chance to give form to a theatre of revolt that could speak emphatically to the biggest number of people, creating inclusion, avoiding higher culture codes and articulating ideas of emancipation and common good among working class people. In the same way, the Modica Street Musical seamlessly juxtaposes classical music pieces and pop songs, engaged theatre and entertainment, mass movements and ballet choreographies. Divided into three parts, the work devotes Act I to the Present, where dozens of formations will create a multifaceted performance with the intent of offering a sounding board to those who locally turn their energies to forming the new generations through music, dance and other activities. It is a great fresco of the city’s cultural liveliness, paying special attention to what brings people together and spawns a transitory community composed of people from very different walks of life. Intermezzo is dedicated to the Past. At this juncture, the past is evoked with a specific and limited function: not as a cumbersome and inhibiting legacy of alternative scenarios to the present, but in its capacity to bear witness to the evolutions of the social fabric through the historical transformations of such a unique territory in the Sicilian ecosystem: choice of stories, anecdotes, and significant local

Performance, video, photography, sculpture, drawing, collage, painting, banner, installation

historical events will be recited by direct and indirect witnesses (storytellers, sign language interpreter, anarchists, among others) Act II is the final act and focuses on the Possible, chosen as an alternative category to the future, underscoring the need for tangible actions that will stem from recognition of the existent and informed by the careful reading of what has been. Senatore thus invited the Italian composer Emiliano Branda to write a soundtrack about Modica, starting with materials collected through a request made to residents in June to send in all the sounds, memories, and citations that, in their minds, form the sonic backdrop of the city. The MODICA SOUNDTRACK is the legacy that Marinella Senatore’s public work is leaving to the population that so generously chose to participate in a musical about them and that would project to the outside the complexity of being together and forming a community today.

Text by M. Lucchetti

Workers Union Brass Band2016 Graphite, ink and chinese pencil on acid free cardboard (framed) cm 70 × 100Collection: MAXXI, Rome

Protest dance2016Pencil and wax color on paper cm 70 × 100Collection: MAXXI, Rome

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Modica Street Musical “luminarie” 2017Installation: monitors, headphones, wall paintings, sound Dimension determined by the space Installation view at Queens Museum, NYC Photo H. Zhang

Modica Street Musical “luminarie” 2017Installation: monitors, headphones, wall paintings, sound Dimension determined by the space Installation view at Queens Museum, NYC Photo H. Zhang

Rosone 12018 Wooden Structure and LED bulbs 200 cm Diameter

Rosone 22018 Wooden Structure and LED bulbs 160 cm Diameter

Modica Street Musical2016 6 channel 4k video installation, 16:9, 1 mute and 5 with sound, color Stills from video

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THESCHOOL OFNARRATIVEDANCEPerformance, workshop, photography

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The School of Narrative Dance, Shenzhen2017Production photographs

Commissioned by Bi-City Biennale of Urbanism/Architecture, Shenzhen2017

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London Procession2018Production photographsPhoto R. Cherry and C. Erre

Commissioned by Hayward Gallery, London2018

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The School of Narrative Dance, Bregenz2018Production photographs

Commissioned by Kunsthaus Bregenz2018

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The School of Narrative Dance, Ecuador 2014 Production photographs

Commissioned by Bienal de Cuenca, Ecuador2014

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The School of Narrative Dance: Little Chaos 2013 Production photographs

The School of Narrative Dance: Oulu2019Production photographsPhoto by Kari Aronte

Commissioned by Musei Civici and Comune of Cagliari, Italy2013

Commissioned by Oulu Museum, Finland2019

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The School of Narrative Dance – Rivoli Parade 2014Production photographs

Commissioned by Castello di Rivoli, Turin2014

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The School of Narrative Dance, Roma2014Production photographs

Commissioned by MAXXI, RomeWinner of MAXXI Price 20142014

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The School of Narrative Dance, Venice Parade 2015 Production photographs

Commissioned by Creative Time Summit within the framework of 56th Venice Biennale 2015

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The School of Narrative Dance, Berlin Parade2012Production photographs

Berlin2012

The School of Narrative Dance: Miami 2016 Production photographs

Commissioned by Faena Forum, Miami2016

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The School of Narrative Dance: Paris 2017 Workshops at Center Pompidou Production photographs

The School of Narrative Dance: Paris 2017 Production photographs

Commissioned by Centre Pompidou, Paris 2017

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The School of Narrative Dance: Die Große Parade 2015 Production photographs

Ebensee, Austria2015

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The School of Narrative Dance, New York Procession 2015 Production photographsSpecial guests: Living Theatre and Martha Graham

Highline, NYC2015

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The School of Narrative Dance, Zurich 2017Production photographs

Commissioned byKunsthaus Zurich2017

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The School of Narrative Dance, Kassel 2017 Production photographs

Commissioned byDocumenta 14, Kassel2017

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The School of Narrative Dance: Evora Procession 2017 Production photographsPhotos by J. Carrapato and A. Russo

Commissioned byFundação Eugénio de Almeida, Evora2017

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WE the KIDS, Venice2018Production photographsPhoto F. Bottazzin, D. Carrer and R. Ciriello

Commissioned byPeggy Guggenheim Venice2018

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York Symphony2017Production photographsPhoto by D. Chalmers

Commissioned byYork Art Gallery, UK2018

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The School of Narrative Dance, Mannheim 2018Production photographsPhoto C. Kleiner and H. J. Michel

Commissioned byKunsthalle Mannheim,Germany2018

PROTEST FORMS: MEMORY AND CELEBRATIONPerformance, photography

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Protest Forms: Memory and Celebration Part I, Quadriennale di RomeOctober 12, 2016Performance at 16a Quadriennale di Rome at Palazzo delle Esposizioni, Rome, ItalyProduction photographs

Protest Forms: Memory and Celebration Part I, Fondazione Teatro Garibaldi, ModicaOctober 16, 2017Performance at Fondazione Teatro Garibaldi, Modica, ItalyProduction photographs

Protest Forms: Memory and Celebration (Sonic Version) October 7, 2017Public performance at BAK, basis voor actuele kunst, Utrecht Production photographs

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Nui Simu (That’s us)2011

within the framework of ILLUMInations: 54th International Art Exhibition La Biennale Di Venezia, curated by B. Curiger

Estman Radio Drama – Venice2011

Written and performed by 500 former factory workers from Marghera (Venice, Italy) in collaboration with students from the Venetian Universities, the radio play in 4 chapters was broadcasted by 75 Italian radios (including national networks and Italian language radios abroad) during the entire 54th Venice Biennale. Students of the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama of Glasgow performed the English version.

54TH VENICE BIENNALEVideo projection, installation

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Nui Simu (That’s us)2010HD video projection, stereo, 15′Installation view at ILLUMInations — 54th Venice Biennale, Arsenale curated by B. CurigerPhotos by V. GrandiniPrivate collection

Estman Radio Drama 2011 Desk, chair, radio, 4 CD players, 4 headphones, texts and archival photographsDimensions determined by the space Installation view at 54th Venice Biennale, central pavilion

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Estman Radio Drama 2011 Production photographs In the image: workers from Marghera writing and recording the radio play

PALERMO PROCESSION2018

At Manifesta 12 Palermo, Marinella Senatore presents an urban performance and multimedia installation, Palermo Procession. For Palermo Procession, the local community is involved in its entirety. The project focuses on the idea of narration as an experience that can be explored through non-hierarchical learning, self-training and the creation of an active citizenship also through dance and the process parade.

Public performance

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Palermo Procession2018Public performanceProduction photographs

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MODICA STREET MUSICAL: THE PRESENT, THE PAST AND THE POSSIBLE2016Public performance

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Modica Street Musical – The Present, The Past and The Possible2016Production photographsPhoto by A. Samonà

ESTMAN RADIO PODCAST2014 – 2018

Podcast Radio studiowww.estmanradio.com

Estman Radio is an online radio open to the public who can share sounds and opinions. On the platform participants send radio plays, debates, interviews, lectures, music, scripts, sound art, noises, stories and ideas. Launched at Kunst Halle of St. Gallen (CH) Estman Radio is an ongoing and itinerant project also hosted by Museums and Institutions as a recording station available to the public to perform live.

Podcast radio studio

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Estman Radio 2018Recording desk areaVariable dimension Installation view at ICA, Richmond

Estman Radio 2016Recording desk areaVariable dimension Installation view at MOSTYN, LLandundo, UK

Estman Radio 2015 Recording studio details Variable dimension Installation view at Palais De Toyko, Paris

Estman Radio 2014 Recording studio details Variable dimension Installation view at Kunst Halle St. Gallen, CH Photo G. Meier

THE WORD COMMUNITY FEELS GOOD2015

by R. Rugoffwithin the framework of La vie moderne, Biennale de Lyon, France

For her residency with the Veduta platform, Marinella Senatore has been interested, she says, “in the history of Lyon from the point of view of its inhabitants.” She has spent months working with very different social groups in the Greater Lyon area, ranging from prosperous suburbs to workers’ housing projects. By assembling associations as well as private individuals, brass bands and opera singers, hip hop groups and amateurs, Senatore has been able to create a body of work that includes the creation of a hymn to modern life, – an “official anthem for the Biennale” – which is played throughout the event. She has organised what she calls “unexpected performances” with music and dance conservatories, amateur musicians, pensioners and various citizens, which take the form of surprise events in supermarkets, local shops and the street during the Biennale. Marinella Senatore is also “opening” the Biennale, during the official speeches, with a choir of blind and visually impaired people, all members of the non-profit group Valentin Haüy. They will be singing Les Canuts, a song written in 1894 by Aristide Bruant, about the 1831 silk workers’ rebellion in Lyon – a song they found relevant enough for our present time. As a testament to her collaborators, Marinella Senatore also presents two large-scale photographs that depict, at life-size, members of the different groups she has worked with to create performances for La Biennale: the visually-impaired choir on the one hand, and a portrait featuring two groups of “readers” from both Saint-Cyr-au-Mont-d’Or and Vaulx-en-Velin, which is placed next to shelves filled with the books they have chosen themselves to read aloud in the exhibition spaces of La Sucriere.

Throughout the Biennale, groups of readers will read from those books, in various languages that range from French to Italian, Japanese to Persian, Arabic to Portuguese, Creole to Cambodgian, thus creating a Babel tower of language whose recordings can also be heard when the readers are away.

Installation, wallpaper, sound, 800 books, collective reading section

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The Word Community Feels Good2015 Installation: Billboard mt 5 x 4, found chairs, 800 books, 2 soundtracks, headphonesDimension determined by the spaceInstallation view at Biennale de Lyon