calendario eventi  :: 

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15/11/2005

P.P.P.

Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich

Pier Paolo Pasolini and Death

Curators: Dr. Michael Semff, Director of the Staatliche Graphische Sammlung; Dr. Bernhart Schwenk, Curator of Contemporary Art at the Pinakothek der Moderne in cooperation with Guiseppe Zigaina

Scenography: chezweitz / Detlef Weitz, Benjamin Meyer-Krahmer

30 years ago, on the morning of All Souls’ Day, 2nd November 1975, the world famous film director and writer Pier Paolo Pasolini was found murdered on a small football pitch in Ostia, near Rome. The violent death of Pasolini, who at that time was one of Europe’s most prominent and controversial intellectuals, became the subject of major debates far beyond the borders of Italy and gave rise to all kinds of wild speculation. To this day, the circumstances surrounding his death have not been entirely clarified. In May 2005, his alleged – and until then confessed – murderer retracted his admission of guilt. This, in turn, has led to renewed investigations into the Pasolini murder case.

On the occasion of the 30th anniversary of Pasolini’s death, the Pinakothek der Moderne is holding a comprehensive exhibition that offers insights into the philosophical thoughts and ideals of the visionary and uncompromising artist Pasolini.

Pier Paolo Pasolini (1922-1975) – or, as he preferred to call himself, »P.P.P.« – was not only a film director and author but also dramatist and actor, lyricist and journalist, painter and graphic artist. As a poet (writing early works in the regional dialect of his native Friuli), as the author of novels (»Ragazzi di vita«) and of theoretical essays (»Scritti corsari«), and as director of controversial films such as »Mamma Roma«, »Teorema«, »Medea«, »Salò or the 120 days of Sodom«, Pasolini chose to focus largely on timeless, archaic subjects: the fate of humanity, religion, sexuality, death. In doing so, he moved in his own aesthetic world of contradiction, one far beyond conventional norms and values, where he created images of clarity only rarely achieved since – images in which harshness and tenderness appear intimately interrelated in sibling-like form.

Throughout his work Pasolini directed his attention towards an all-embracing dimension – a superior ideal. The lucidity of thought and the immense influence of his works on subsequent generations of performance and fine artists are better judged now, three decades after his death.

Pasolini was one of the first to predict the crisis of humanity created by the culturally destructive role of the media and by mass consumption at the end of the 20th and beginning of the 21st century. For his part, he had the foresight to invent early in his career new linguistic and visual techniques of expression that enabled him to move effortlessly from one medium to another.

To this day, the name of Pasolini is for many people primarily associated with external events, with the breaking of taboos and with scandals. For this reason, the exhibition is particularly interested in presenting the many different facets and contexts of the work by this highly versatile artist. Drawings and paintings, manuscripts and documents as well as a number of »symbolic« images from his films, have been assembled to illuminate the broad intellectual spectrum of Pasolini’s leading thoughts and works. At the same time, the exhibition traces the chronological development of a work that reached its ultimate coherence through the death of the poet-director: »As long as I am not dead, no one will be able to claim they really know me.« (P.P.P.)

Central to the exhibition is the thesis on Pasolini advocated by the Friulian painter, graphic artist and writer Guiseppe Zigaina, whose life-long artistic friendship with Pasolini began in 1946. Since 1986, Zigaina has propagated the view that Pasolini’s death should be seen as the »work of the author«. >From 1958 onwards, Pasolini conceived his entire >oeuvre< as a drama production – a »mise en scène«. His fascination for myths and rituals were manifested in significant »acts« in which his own death was compared with a film cut and seen as the only logical consequence.

The exhibition is a collaborative undertaking between the Staatliche Graphische Sammlung (State Collection of Graphic Art) and the Sammlung Moderne Kunst (Collection of Modern Art) of the Pinakothek der Moderne.

Publication
In conjunction with the opening of the exhibition, Hatje Cantz Verlag is publishing a catalogue edited by Bernhart Schwenk and Michael Semff. It includes essays by Giuseppe Zigaina, Peter Kammerer, Roberto Chiesi, Loris Lepri, Benjamin Meyer-Krahmer and Marc Weis.
Approx. 208 pages, approx. 90 images, of which 30 are in colour, size 22 x 27 cm., bound, with protective jacket, price: 35 Euro.

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Events

Thursday, 24.11. | 18.30
Tribute to P.P.P.

An informal evening of short lectures, readings and music, presents the many different facets of the personality of Pier Paolo Pasolini, some of them less well known. Among them: his interest in the paintings of early Italian Renaissance, his love for the dialect of his native Friuli and his passion for football.
Introduction: Bernhart Schwenk

Thursday, 01.12. | 18.30

Pasolini documentaries
»The constant feature of my work is a kind of longing for life: a feeling of exclusion that continues to grow rather than diminishing with my love of life.« This is how Pasolini described his work in an interview he gave in 1966. This evening’s venue of documentary profiles presents the audience with an opportunity to acquaint themselves with the person Pasolini. Among the films being shown is one of a conversation between Pasolini and the aged poet Ezra Pound. It reveals how their passionate views on cultural and political issues were in some ways very similar, yet in others very different.
Introduction: Ilaria Furno Weise

Thursday, 08.12. | 18.30

»Salò o le centoventi giornate di Sodoma« (»Salò or the 120 Days of Sodom«), Italy/France 1975, 116 minutes. On release to persons 18 years and above.

In what was to be his last film, Pasolini develops a shocking vision of man’s obsession with power and barbarian destructiveness in the midst of highly intellectual and cultural sophistication. Conceived as a commentary on the hedonistic nature of contemporary consumer society, the film portrays an apocalyptic age of decadence for which there is no hope of change. It is a cinematic work of both great precision and unrelenting beauty.
Introduction: Bernhart Schwenk

Further events and detailed information on the accompanying programme are to be announced shortly by the Pinakothek der Moderne.

Series of films in the Filmmuseum

Parallel to the exhibition at the Pinakothek der Moderne, the Filmmuseum of Munich, will be showing almost the entire collection of Pasolini’s cinematic works. The exact programme can be downloaded from internet site at: http://dtmuseum-online.de/aktuell/filmre.htm

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Press Preview: 16.11.2005, 11.00

Pinakothek der Moderne
Barer Str. 40, -München

Further Information:

Tine Nehler, Gina Maria Becker | Head of Press Office
Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen | Pinakothek der Moderne
Kunstareal | Barer Str. 29, München
Telephone: + 49 89 23805-118 | Fax: + 49 89 23805-125

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