Shut Up. Or Rather, Speak: the Open Call

Self-portrait

Autoritratto (Self-portrait) provides a space for the authentic voices of artists who tell their stories, but is simultaneously a self-portrait of Carla Lonzi who has chosen in recent years to distance herself from the sphere of criticism, to explore the dimension of subjectivity, in contrast with the supposed objectivity of a critic.

“I am no longer a stranger” – she writes in the book's introduction to define her relationship with creativity. Self-portraying in this sense becomes a political act to speak out, of narrating in the first person.

But what purpose does the self-portrait as a form of self-narration serve today? And what are the tools that allow us to express ourselves in a more spontaneous and immediate way?

In times of forced confinement (collective as well as personal), how can we field individual subjectivities and visions again?

When our lives are tied exclusively to the domestic, intimate space, the story of oneself becomes a key instrument with which to communicate with the world.

The digital spaces we inhabit have been recently filled with live shows, interviews, testimonials, diaries and tutorials.
Self-representation in one form or another has become an integral part in several fields, including arts and culture.

One of the fundamental characteristics of Carla Lonzi's Autoritratto (Self-portrait) is the bond that each protagonist has with the present, with the contemporary.
The contemporary is the stepping stone through which visions, ideas, opinions evolve in the interviews, the subjects speak of themselves through the words, the idioms, the images that accompany this choral narration.

In the world we live in, with the problems we face every day, how can we make the various voices of subjectivities be heard?

Can we recreate the freedom and immediacy of the self-representation that characterises the voices in the Autoritratto (Self-portrait) interviews?

The open call

The open call Taci. Anzi, parla (Be quiet. Or rather, speak) is an invitation to reflect on one's voice, image, history, and tell one’s story, starting from their experience, from their own past, in connection with the historical moment we find ourselves in.

The format of the (video) selfie, defined by Mirzoeff and other visual studies scholars as a digital performance, allows us to build our stories using words and images, inspired by Carla Lonzi's Autoritratto (Self-portrait), where intimate dialogues between her and the artists intersect with the personal photographs of the protagonists, creating a sheltered space for thought and vision.