Ludovico Pratesi

 ART AS IDENTITY

Adelita Husni-Bey, Elena Mazzi, Shefa Salem

curated by Ludovico Pratesi

Tripoli and Benghazi, Autumn 2023

The Art as Identity exhibition, promoted by the Consulate General of Italy in Benghazi and curated by Ludovico Pratesi, compares the research of 3 female artists - an Italian, an Italian-Libyan and a Libyan - linked to the idea of art as identity vehicle and expression of a process of reflection on the reactivation of the genius loci through the artistic language.

The exhibition is scheduled for October 2023, on the occasion of Contemporary Art Day, in the Tripoli and Benghazi venues.

Within a complex context such as Libya in the twenty-first century, the proposition of a dialogue between the Italian-Libyan artist Adelita Husni-Bey, the Italian Elena Mazzi and the Libyan Shefa Salem is configured as an opportunity to testify the ability of female artists to grasp the changes taking place on the international art scene in a more profound and incisive way.  Through the use of different languages and forms of expression, the invited artists propose methods and strategies for reappropriation of their identity. Each of them was asked to present three works in response to the question: How does art define your identity?

The Libyan artist Shefa Salem presents paintings where the concept of identity is explored in the socio-cultural context of her country, with subjects and themes that re-read ancient traditions in a contemporary way.

Adelita Husni-Bey and Elena Mazzi, active in Italy and on the international scene, reflects on the tensions and evolutions of Western society. If Mazzi questions the relationship between the human being and his anthropological context, highlighting the critical points and contradictions within social dynamics, Husni-Bey is interested in complex political and social issues by investigating them through sociological studies,  educational theories and experimental teaching practices.

Conceived as a dialogue between different practices, methodologies and languages, the exhibition brings together 9 works (three for each artist) and is accompanied by a catalog with the curatorial text, interviews with the artists and reproductions of the exhibited works.