Alessandra Ferrini is an Italian artist, researcher, and educator based in London. Her research fits into the postcolonial methodological framework, drawing on historiographic and archival practices and the so-called “Critical Whiteness Studies”. Gaddafi in Rome: Anatomy of a Friendship (2024) is part of research carried out by Ferrini since 2017. The title refers to the “treaty of friendship, partnership, and cooperation between Italy and Libya”, signed by the then heads of state Muammar Gaddafi and Silvio Berlusconi in 2008. These agreements were ratified during the Libyan leader’s visit to Rome in 2009. On that occasion, Gaddafi’s uniform displayed the image of Omar al-Mukhtar, leader of the anti- colonialist resistance. Starting from the iconicity of that encounter, the short film Anatomy of a Friendship analyses the relationship between the two states, digging into the roots of the Italian occupation between 1911 and 1943 to arrive at the recent bilateral agreements that have redesigned migration policies in the Mediterranean. The film is flanked by the much-debated image of Omar al-Mukhtar and a timeline of diplomatic agreements. The series intends to dissect the historical events and colonial dynamics that have characterised this controversial relationship. This intention is not only made explicit in the title but is recalled in the configuration of the installation environment, which cites, in the curtains and seating, the first anatomical theatre in Padua.
This is the first time the work of Alessandra Ferrini is presented at Biennale Arte.
—Lorenzo Giusti
