Marco Bagnoli: The wheel of time

Curated by Zerynthia, Association for Contemporary Art OdV
In collaboration with Osten Biennal Skopje
Critical text by Matteo Binci
With the support of: Italian Embassy in Skopje and Italian Cultural Institute in Belgrade

“The 7 sleepers rotate on domes that become sailing ships.
They roll in a Macedonian sky to offer a possible orientation.
The light of the moon for travelers who have lost the stars.”

The Wheel of Time is the monographic exhibition by Marco Bagnoli (Empoli, Italy, 1949) that brings together works by the artist from the last 35 years and new site-specific productions at the historical Čifte Hammam in Skopje. The hammam, now the location of the National Gallery of Macedonia, was built in the mid-15th century following the forms of Islamic architecture and has been used over the centuries by Muslims, Jews and Catholics, becoming a place of cultural and religious syncretism. Bagnoli’s research is a peculiar cosmic and spiritual investigation that generates a union between Western and Eastern beliefs, interpreting mythologies and writings originating from distant centuries and heterogeneous cultures. The artist takes us towards a metaphysical other dimension through video projections expanded in the rooms and sounds that resonate under the domes of the Skopje hammam and tell us stories that from Ephesus lead to an Indian Auroville—crossroads of knowledge and citizenship—to gardens of ancient chess pieces made of gold and silver, accompanied by the appearance of an Arabian phoenix. Bagnoli seeks, through art, a spiritual and human unity that can transcend the grey boundaries drawn by the narrow-mindedness of men.

For the exhibition project, the artist draws on an ancient legend about seven young men from Ephesus who, in order to escape persecution of the Christians, on the wings of a miraculous event sleep—unaware—for more than two centuries in a cave; understanding only upon awaking that such a long time had passed. The theme that recurs in different cultures: in Christian, in Muslim, in Celtic settings, and even in Malaysia—is a myth whose origins lie in the great migrations, when the exiles on their journey south, propelled by the megalithic cultures of the north, no longer recognized the stars they referred to for orientation in the deserts below the equator. The appearance of the boat-shaped Magellanic cloud at the south pole gave them new orientation. A rebirth after abandonment.

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