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Something keeps changing while you look at it. The gaze does not pass through. It changes with what it encounters.
Terre Rare is an immersion into the depths of the human soul, a journey through the abandoned recesses of the former Pontifical Prison of Velletri, where the walls exude stories of suffering and resistance.
Among the rusty bars and broken windows that filter the light like faint hopes, the photographs abandon the abstractions of museums to throw themselves into the urban arena. From cracked concrete to the mold covering the escape posters, each shot tells a story of claustrophobia and oppression, weaving a universal portrait of the human condition.
"Educating to the management of defeat is essential to embrace our humanity, resisting the superficiality and opportunism that permeate modern society."
- Pier Paolo Pasolini
In a world that screams certainties and easy solutions, Terre Rare is an invitation to ask ourselves questions, accept vulnerability, and embrace failure as part of our growth - to explore new horizons with courage and determination.
The project was born in the houses that once belonged to the Romani family, in the Castello district of Velletri, ceded to the Pontifical Legation in 1865 and transformed, in the following years, into the city's new prison. The building stood at the highest point of the town, next to the Palazzo del Priore and the offices of civil and judicial power - the prison and the government shared the same view over the city.
Inside, three floors distinguished the women's section from the men's section, small cells from large cells: the former, called the wheel and the chain, were used to isolate prisoners during interrogations. There were kitchens, an infirmary, three rooms for the judge, and a chapel dedicated to the Holy Crucifix, which three times a week hosted Mass and, on other evenings, film screenings.
The prison remained active until 1991, when prisoners were transferred to the new maximum-security facility of Lazzaria. For over thirty years, the building appeared on the ISTAT list of abandoned properties in Italy, until in 2015 the Municipality of Velletri purchased it to remove it from real estate speculation. It is in these rooms that have remained empty that Terre Rare takes shape.
The project was born within the artist residency Officina Alchemica delle Idee (Alchemical Workshop of Ideas), held from April 30 to September 30, 2023 in Velletri, at the former Pontifical Prison - an integral part of the performative practice iosonovulnerabile (internationally, iamvulnerable). From there, the work was exhibited in Paris in 2024, at the Italian Institute of Culture, and in Rome in 2025, at the Museo di Villa Altieri.
- Velletri, former Pontifical Prison - residency Officina Alchemica delle Idee, April 30 - September 30, 2023
- Paris, Italian Institute of Culture, October 3 - November 29, 2024
- Rome, Museo di Villa Altieri, December 6, 2024 - February 23, 2025
THE GALLERY
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THE SAME RESEARCH, DIFFERENT LANGUAGES
Terre Rare is one expression of this research. The same journey continues through cinema, performative practice, and the artist residency.
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VULNERARE |
PERFORMATIVE PRACTICE 2023 |
ARTIST RESIDENCY |
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