Polisportiva Casalbertone Occupata

The contribution from the duo Grossi Maglioni (Francesca Grossi and Vera Maglioni) plants itself inside the premises of 19 via Govone in the form of a mise en scène of a sit-in. The work takes its inspiration from the events in the Polisportiva Casal Bertone (Casal Bertone Sporting Club) which are an integral part of the neighbourhood’s history and sets out to investigate the concept of a sit-in, taking into consideration the effects and changes this type of action can generate in a space. The sign that hangs above the shop window, “POLISPORTIVA CASALBERTONE OCCUPATA” (Sports centre occupied) makes clear the artists’ intentions even from the exterior of the premises. Once you step inside, the space is configured in such a way as to envelop you and is filled with various elements and references including the intimate and private memory of the “Polisportiva” as seen through a photo that shows one of the artists in the gym during her childhood; the fabrics that completely cover the space however represent the history of the occupations in the neighbourhood; from ancient times all the way to more recent times highlighting the narrative and historical component of the work. In the middle of the room, the imposing pommel “horse” – a gymnastic sporting apparatus recovered from the abandoned sports area – helps to convey the idea of there being two sides to the project; one private and the other politically engaged. On one side it assumes a “fetish” quality of a childhood spent in a gym; and on the other it transforms symbolically into a weapon with which to take the school/gym by force like a Trojan horse. The moment the viewer steps inside the space, they take on the role of occupier adding themselves to the list of occupations throughout history in Casal Bertone, as the illustrated fabrics can attest to. Walking through the space to its interior, the viewer becomes part of a “temporary autonomous zone”[1] (according to a striking quote from anarchic thinker Hakim Bey) which hangs somewhere in the balance between a camp site and its barricades.

[1] For more insight refer to H.Bey,T.A.Z. Zone Temporaneamente Autonome, Shake, Milano 2007