Alessandro Caccuri Tarantino

In the video essay I LOVE MY LAND, Alessandro Caccuri reflects on his conflicting relationship with his homeland of Apulia in Italy. He analyses the historical transformations that the ‘tarantella’ – a dance ritual to exorcise "hysteria" – has undergone through the ultra-commercialisation of its cultural elements. The work considers how much knowing one’s tradition and being aware of their identity can affect the relationship with their origins and with their own self. 

The project continues through the audiovisual performance FOR REAL NOT FOR ART, which unravels the video essay, transforming and decomposing it live into music, dance and color, while processing the feelings of loss and anger. Informed by peasant cultures where collective acts of exorcism, in the form of dance, were practiced to heal the pain of everyday life, the performance invites the public to set their body free and release tensions throughout the space.