“Tarantism: Dance, Possession and Exorcism in Southern Italy” : Illustrated Lecture and Screening with Chiara Ambrosio

Illustrated Lecture and Screening with Filmmaker and Artist Chiara Ambrosio with Thematic DJed music and Special Cocktails by Friese Undine
Date: Saturday, December 7

Time: 8:00
Admission: $10
Presented by Morbid Anatomy
** This talk originally premiered at the 2013 Congress of Curious Peoples, London

Tarantism is a form of dance mania that illustrates the complex struggle between Pagnism and Catholicism in the South of Italy.

Its journey and development- from Greek and Roman times, through the middle ages and renaissance, straight through to the modern day- traces a story that transcends the history of medicine and religion to embrace a vast and complicated conversation about the political and socio-economical identity of a land, and the continued fight for freedom and emancipation in an extremely volatile and difficult terrain, both physical and psychological.

This event will begin with a talk will exploring Tarantism as a ritualistic spectacle that, through dance and music, offers a form of resistance and continuation of specific local histories beliefs and identity. After the talk, Chiara will screen her film “Time To Go,”which was heavily inspired by the ideas behind the talk and dance as a form of exorcism. There will also be DJed music and special artisinal cocktails courtesy of artist Friese Undine.

Chiara Ambrosio is a filmmaker working with animation, experimental film, documentary and sound to explore the ways in which we perceive, remember, articulate and preserve personal and collective histories and place through the filter of memory and the imagination. Her most recent works include “ A Walk Through Woods,” a film-cycle developed and filmed on location in North Cornwall, and “La Frequenza Fantasma (The Ghost Frequency)”, a feature-length documentary film-poem developed as part of a Fellowship in the Visual Anthropology department of Goldsmith University and filmed in a village in the South of Italy. Her first animation was produced and scored by British composer Michael Nyman, and her subsequent work has included collaborations with performance artists, musicians and writers, and has been shown in a number of venues including national and international film festivals, galleries and site-specific events. Chiara is also the founder and curator of The Light & Shadow Salon, a monthly film salon at The Horse Hospital in Bloomsbury. More information can be found at: www.acuriousroom.com.

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