Video artworks, untold stories, and sound tales from underground, along with whale songs and archaeological traces, deconstruct the idea of the ideal Mediterranean, multiplying narrative forms and generating alternative visions.

On the occasion of its first public exchange, MAXXI Med – which will open its doors in Messina, Sicily – presents some hypotheses from its research in the project Un soleil jaune, Un soleil vert, Un soleil jaune, Un soleil rouge, Un soleil bleu – Echoes across the Mediterranean curated by Chiara Ianeselli at MAXXI.
Almost like a manifesto of ever-evolving intentions, the program multiplies echoes and horizons to listen and to share the issues expressed by the arts in the many contexts of the Mediterranean, reaching as far as the seas of the Moon. The title of the project comes from the poem The Arab Apocalypse (1980) by Etel Adnan, in which the artist transcends the limits of words, also including in the text tiny hand-drawn hieroglyphics that suspend meanings and cross the various verses, generating liminal spaces with suns of different colours; hinting at the many facets, even dramatic ones, illuminated each day on the shores of the sea.

From the tuna fisheries in Sicily, the investigation moves to the area of the Greater Maghreb, in Arabic المغرب al-Maghrib, “the place of sunset”), with a view both inward and outward, following a pluralistic approach without the prejudices of research determinations.

The project includes a curatorial proposal titled (Un)told Stories, a section co-curated with Elisabeth Piskernik (Le Cube, Morocco). This section presents artistic positions that question the construction of History and official narratives, reworking alternative narratives that are undocumented, orally transmitted, or voluntarily repressed.

featured artists:
Adel Abidin, Randa Ali, Diana Anselmo, Fiona Banner, Carlo Benvenuto, Oli Bonzanigo, Maeve Brennan, Eglė Budvytytė, Eleonora Castagnone, Ali Cherri, David Claerbout, Anouk De Clercq, Enar de Dios Rodríguez, Badr El Hammami, Abdessamad El Montassir, Francesco Fonassi, Marianne Fahmy, Luke Flowler, Theaster Gates, Fairuz and El Moïz Ghamma, Margo Gobbi, Joana Hadjithomas and Khalil Joreige, Laila Hida, Pierre Huyghe, Jan van IJken, Maria Laet, Giuseppe Lana, Mohammed Laouli, Auguste and Louis Lumière, Marcos Lutyens, Sarah Munaf, Ziad Naitaddi, Pınar Öğrenci, POLISONUM, Nour Ouayda, Julian Rosefeldt, Hanna Rullmann and Faiza Ahmad Khan, Stéphanie Saadé, Alessandro Sciaraffa, Katrin Ströbel

image: Abdessamad El Montassir, Trab’ssahl, 2023, videostill. By ADAGP/SIAE 2024