The performance VB82 by Vanessa Beecroft will be presented on Friday 14 July 2017, from 7 to 10 pm, in Certosa di San Lorenzo, Padula. The performance will involve 13 male characters, including inhabitants of Padula, and will take place in the Sala del Refettorio, inside the Certosa.
A very long, slanted table is in the centre of the room. The 13 men are reminiscent of the figure of Jesus: bare, wearing only a white veil. They are longhaired and bearded, representing the traditional white Jesus as depicted in movies and paintings.
The performance lasts for two hours, then the population of the village above the Certosa is invited on a procession lit by fire torches to enter the Certosa. At the entrance, villagers are given a white long cloth to wear and occupy the main courtyard of the Certosa. The performance is photographed and filmed.
Padula Charterhouse is a large Carthusian monastery, located in the town of Padula, in the Cilento National Park. The monastery is the largest in Italy and was founded by Tommaso di San Severino on 27 April 1306 on the site of an earlier monastery. It is dedicated to Saint Lawrence, and its architectural structure supposedly recalls the griddle-iron upon which the saint was burnt alive.
The project, part of the exhibition Il cammino delle Certose, is sponsored by Regione Campania (Assessorato ai Beni Culturali e Turismo), with the support of MiBACT – Polo Museale della Campania – and it is produced by Art+Vibes, in collaboration with Lia Rumma Gallery.
