Marinella Senatore. Festa!

Mazzoleni celebrates its fortieth anniversary with FESTA!, the first solo exhibition by Marinella Senatore in the new Milan space, following previous presentations in Turin (2021) and London (2022) galleries. From the title itself, the exhibition invites to recognise artistic practice as a political act and as a celebration of the power of communitas, a concept that has been central to Senatore’s research for over two decades.
From the outset of her career, the artist has conceived her role as activator of processes and experiences in which individual subjectivities can meet and emerge with their distinct identities within shared spaces of action and thought. This vision lies at the core of The School of Narrative Dance, through which Senatore has given voice and visibility to millions of people worldwide across major national and international public commissions.

With this exhibition, the artist invites viewers to discover a new phase of her research: all the artworks on view are newly produced, including a series of embroidered tapestries created in collaboration with the Chanakya School of Craft in Mumbai, alongside sketches and drawings that intertwine her reflections on participatory practice and landscape. Each of these works addresses tradition as a device, of the present, engaging with social activation, and the transmission of craft-

based knowledge.

“In an increasingly fragmented present, FESTA! reclaims the power of the collective body, of light as a public gesture, and of celebration as a practice capable of building community anew.”

Marinella Senatore