The work was open for viewing only during the Summer Screenings 2024.
MEDUSA by Francesca Leoni Italy (2023)
Hair has been used since the dawn of time to express political opinions and values, we see it in the most disparate cultures, all over the world,” Rachael Gibson, hair history expert, tells Vogue. Even hair coloring has distant origins: in ancient Egypt it was done with berries, tree bark, minerals, insects and plant seeds. The color of the time was dark brown. In the Middle Ages, hair was linked to magic and superstition.
In fact, hair is considered an external and material extension of the soul. For this reason they were used in magical potions. It was also common to burn fallen or cut hair because if it fell into the wrong hands it could be the basis for curses or the evil eye. In 2014, the stylist Vivienne Westwood shaved her hair to raise public awareness about climate change, and in 2015 the actress Rose Mcgowan also cut her hair off because, as she explains in her autobiography, well done, she didn’t want to no longer be a sexual object. “Afro hairstyles inextricably associated with civil rights battles, and unstraightened hair became an important symbol of the ‘black is beautiful’ movement and philosophy; skinheads represented the rebellion and rejection of traditional aesthetics in society in the 80s; and the hair powder tax of 1786 caused a mass rejection of men’s wigs and introduced a new trend, that of short, natural hair. hair has always symbolized something much deeper.”
When Nadya Tolokonnikova of the punk band Pussy Riot was arrested on Bolotnaya Square in Moscow in 2015, her hair was partly dyed green, matching the prison uniform she was wearing, a symbol of her protest for women in Russian prisons. Nasrin Sotoudeh, the Iranian civil rights lawyer, was sentenced to 38 years in prison and 148 lashes for supporting the anti-veil cause, according to her family. In this video performance, entitled Medusa (in Greek it means guardian/protector), one of the gorgons of Greek mythology, a woman condemned for her appearance and snake-shaped hair, 7 women (for Dante 7 was the number of human perfection ) show and tell their hair.
Bio
Francesca Leoni, video artist and filmmaker. She graduated in “Communication Studies” at the University of North Carolina in Wilmington (USA). During your university years you began studying theater, working mainly on the body and emotions through “the method”. Having returned to Italy, she embarked on a journey between video and cinema, studying with various national and international masters. Her research focuses on the body as a sounding board of emotions, highlighting the relationship between the human being and contemporary life through performance, video art and experimental cinema. In June 2011 she created the duo with Davide Mastrangelo, with which she produced works of video art and performances distributed internationally through festivals and targeted platforms.
Director: Francesca Leoni
D.O.P: Walter Molfese
Assistant Director: Davide Mastrangelo
Music Composer: Fabrizio Sirotti
Editing: Francesca Leoni
Audio recording: Luca Agnoletti
Performers: Consuelo Canducci, Noemi Cardillo, Laura Ferretti, Ariane Lanchais, Laura Leandri (Teatro delle Forchette), Francesca Lolli, Sara Papini
Make up artist: Vittoria Ranieri
Back stage photography: Mike Cimini
Production: Vertov Project
Pebbles Underground is focused on showcasing and promoting experimental, avant-garde, underground, and no-to-low budget projects by artist-humans from all over the world. Absurd, uncanny, witty, humorous, slow-video – all are welcomed, and loved.
Pebbles Underground is an independent project not funded by any government or corporation, and we intend to keep it that way. Main source of funding is personal donations from humans organizing the project, who are artists themselves, and the main drive of the project is formed by the energy and involvement of the organizers, and the public.
