2005 American Academy in Rome, Rome
Materials: Neoprene pipes, 6.000 linear meters – ropes – flowers – perfumed essences (Tibetan incense)
Food: Indian tea, vegetarian samosa, halwa
Musical performance by Agricantus created for the event
Dimensions: m 60 x 57 x h 27
On the 21st of March, 2005, the American Academy in Rome was invaded by a site-specific intervention by Maria Dompè: an artist who intervenes in an environment with a profound humanitarian vocation. The environment understood, therefore, not so much as a landscaped background on which human actions are written, but as indispensable conditions of existence.
The American Academy, set apart on the slopes of the Gianicolo, becomes in this way a place for meeting and participation in the Tibetan cause: a people uprooted from their habitat and committed to the peaceful defence of their very identity. In a profoundly spiritual communion with the rich interior baggage of this dispersed nation, Maria Dompè wanted to render homage and make them the protagonists of the work.
The 6000 linear meters of neoprene pipes that wind around the façade of the Mc Kim, Mead & White Building with the transcription of the Tibetan mantra, so as to underline the importance of an age old culture that risks cancellation. The public is concretely involved in the purchase of the pipes, in order to finance the restoration and reprinting of the sacred Tibetan texts at the monastic university of Sera-Je.
The work is the vehicle for a message that transcends the subjective dimensions, to go beyond the public sphere and share the instance of the other. The convivial atmosphere contributed to being contaminated by diversity, too often the victim of prejudice and misunderstanding; at the same time, this allowed us to get closer to the flavours and traditions of Tibet. The involving music of the Agricantus, inspired by the Tibetan sonority, was fused with the odour of incense and of perfumed essences, carrying the participants into a multi-sensorial show.
The appeal for the liberty of Tibet touches the minds and hearts of everyone: with the simplicity of note, of a spiced infusion, of a rose petal; or with composed prayer and meditation of a monk that teaches how to re-conquer the intimacy with oneself and with everything, in the chaos of the contemporary world.
Maria Egizia Fiaschetti