November 10, 2024

Dr. Fiore Publishes and Presents an Essay about Dawit L. Petros’ Exhibit “Prospetto a mare” in Chicago

Posted in: Endowed Chair's Research, Inserra Chair News and Announcements, Italian News and Events, World Languages and Cultures

On Nov. 1, 2024, Dr. Teresa Fiore (Inserra Endowed Chair in Italian and Italian American Studies) presented “Discovery, Display, and Destruction in Petros’ Re-reading of the Fascist Flight,” a paper just published in an art catalog devoted to “Prospetto a mare,” Dawit L. Petros’ latest exhibit. The catalog, beautifully designed and printed by the Italian art publisher Mousse, includes essays and interviews related to the exhibit, on view at the Museum of Contemporary Photography in Chicago through Dec. 20.

The Mousse catalog features scholars from a wide array of disciplines who share their reading of Eritrean-born artist Dawit L. Petros’ ever-expanding critical investigation of the entanglements of Italian colonialism, emigration, and nation-building processes. The contributors include cultural experts on colonialism and racism Cristina Lombardi Diop and Angelica Pesarini, art historians Onur Öztürk and Lindsay Caplan, and scholars of the Eritrean diaspora Ruth Iyob and the Italian diaspora Teresa Fiore, along with the exhibit’s curator, Karen Irvine.

From left: Teresa Fiore, Angelica Pesarini, Dawit L. Petros and Cristina Lombardi Diop

Full group of participants, moderators and curators

This variety of contributions reflects Dawit L. Petros’ unique practice of combining scholarly research, especially in the field of history and cultural studies, with creative art ranging from photography to design, sculpture, and film. The Nov. 1 symposium, held at Columbia College, brought practically all contributors together, with the addition of architecture historian Lisa Schrenk, art historian Mikolaj Czerwiński, and literary researcher Yuan-Chih (Sreddy) Yen. It was a special opportunity to address the global legacies of Italian colonialism, the architectural imprint of colonial power at the Chicago World’s Fairs of 1893 and 1933-1934, and the relationship of Petros’s practice to abstraction in his re-reading of historical visual archives and paraphernalia, as exemplified in the exhibit (see the artwork titled “Bound” below).

Dr. Fiore’s essay uses Italo Balbo’s flight to Chicago in 1933 to reflect on the plane as simultaneously a symbol for power, a vehicle of fast transportation, and a tool of conquest for the Fascist regime. Supported by the Futurist vision of modern speed, the plane became a national icon in the transnational space of the diaspora, but — as Petros shows through many of his works in the exhibit — a high-tech weapon of devastating effects in the colonies.

Fiore’s essay serves as a continuation to “Transnational Pre[-]Occupations in Dawit L. Petros’ Project about Colonial and Migratory Spaces (Eritrea-Italy-Canada),” a piece that she published in the Mousse art catalog about Dawit L. Petros’s exhibit Spazio Disponibile (2022).

“I see in this ongoing dialogue with Dawit L. Petros an opportunity to hone my interdisciplinary methodology, further nurture my passion for artwork, and expand my research agenda on Italian colonialism and diaspora, along with post-colonial immigration to Italy” – Dr. Fiore commented. “These stimulating discussions push us to address issues of institutional racism, state aggression, and social exclusion beyond conventional discourses about diversity and inclusivity. Interdisciplinary lenses allow us to engage history in a more layered manner, confront it with all its contradictions, and ask more questions rather than resorting to quick slogans. I look forward to more opportunities such as this one, including by bringing Dawit L. Petros closer to Italian Studies, a field that in the U.S. is very much interested in issues of colonialism, post-colonialism, and racism to respond to current, and renewed, challenges in our global world.”

Resources:
Dr. Fiore engages in a public conversation with the artist at Magazzino Italian Art, Cold Spring, NY in 2023.
Dr. Fiore publishes essay in the Spazio Disponibile catalog

Short link: https://tinyurl.com/FiorePetrosProspetto