The epigraph in Rome commemorates the place where Caterina Martinelli was killed, to whom the mural will be dedicated
The walls of the women’s prison of Rebibbia, as has already happened for many buildings in the neighborhood of the same name, are about to be covered in the colors of a mural. And at the same time, the inmates will learn to express their emotions through art by following painting workshops. All within the project.“Art has no bars” aimed at creating murals inside and outside prisons. The project, curated by Oriana Rizzuto, is supported by the Lazio Region, winner of the Vitamin G tender, which in this edition involves the women’s section of Rebibbia, in order to raise everyone’s awareness of the difficulties of prison conditions but above all to highlight the importance of initiatives that can influence the training and re-education of young men and women in prisons. Edoardo Ettorre, young street artist and 2023 MArtelive Revelation Award, is the author of this edition’s external mural, dedicated to Caterina Martinelli. The work will be inaugurated on 12 December 2024 in via dell’Erpice, with the participation of Municipality IV, with the President Massimiliano Umberti and the Ass. to Culture Maurizio Rossi, together with other local realities. Caterina Martinelli was a courageous woman. He participated in demonstrations together with the citizens of the neighborhood against the state of poverty and hunger in which they lived at Tiburtino III. On May 2, 1944, during an assault that occurred the day after the May 1st demonstrations, an agent of the PAI (Italian Africa Police), who intervened to quell the riot, killed her with a shotgun. Catherine, mother of six children, fell on the pavement with six loaves in her shopping bag and a loaf of bread clutched to her chest, while she was holding her infant daughter in her arms. He died on top of his daughter, who survived but with a damaged spine. The following day, on the still bloody pavement, a sign remembered the victim: a starving mother, trying to get bread for her children. She will be the central figure of the mural, a symbol of civil resistance. Ettorre’s work, with its pictorial, spontaneous and gestural style, will represent an emotional and powerful tribute to this historical figure. Furthermore, the football pitch located in front of the mural will be renovated to return part of the territory to the local community. Inside the prison, the educational activities were followed by the psychotherapist Valentina Iavasile and conducted by the artists Tiziana Rinaldi Giacometti and Chiara Anaclio. Their works, with themes related to freedom, self-determination and gender equality, will be the culmination of the annual workshops with women prisoners. Tiziana Rinaldi Giacometti will depict a woman from behind walking towards the future, holding her little girl by the hand, symbolizing freedom and the prospect of life while Chiara Anaclio will represent an ideal garden, a sign of hope to improve the daily path of the inmates. The project is created by the L’Arte non ha barre association together with Agnese Panzieri, produced by MArtesocial and is part of the special projects of the MArtelive Biennale, with the artistic direction of Giuseppe Casa.
