saturday 23 april – 6.30pm
Invernomuto (I)
Negus
film, 67′
Negus, the new film by Invernomuto, follows a circular structure, and its locations (the vertexes of the triangle: Vernasca, Ethiopia and Jamaica) are mixed constantly, almost superimposed, demanding that the viewer loose the limitations of geographical orientation. The film lingers on the in-between spaces uniting the narrative in a sensual contemplative mood. Negus proposes that the trajectories of peoples, ideologies and mythologies are never one way vectors, but always exist in the complexity of infinite feedback and recourse. The overture is focused on Italy: Vernasca and Rome, narrating some specific chilling moments of Italian colonial conquest in Ethiopia. From here we move to Ethiopia, to a town called Shashamane, one the most ancient Rasta communities outside of Jamaica. Shashamane was founded on land granted by Selassie himself to diasporic Africans to return to the promised land (in support of the ‘back to Africa movement’). The move to Jamaica is spontaneous and natural, facing Rastafarianism’s initial and continued repression in Jamaican society, and later, its global impact through reggae music and sound system culture. Bob Marley’s sound engineer explains the scientific and religious importance of bass frequencies for Jamaican music, and how they serve as a vehicle to reach a meditative and revolutionary state of consciousness. Lee “Scratch” Perry, a key figure in the history of jamaican contemporary music, the godfather of dub music and an architect of the foundational sounds of reggae, has a double presence in the film: as a spiritual ghost in the Black Ark, his recording studio in Kingston, Jamaica, which he burned to the ground in the 80’s – and, as a master of ceremony in Invernomuto’s hometown. Lee Perry’s spiritual practice is a Gnostic Rastafarianism that treats fire as a powerful meditative and magical force. His performance in Vernasca closes the film, an epiphany that combines the multiple routes of the project in one singular ritual of purification and resurrection.
written, edited and directed by Invernomuto
production Luca Legnani/999 Films
soundtrack Duppy Gun Productions
with Congo Ashanti Roy, King Kong, Ilabash, Carmelo Ghebre Selassie, Stephen Stewart, Afifa Aza, Kuri “The Farmer”, Sahara Benji, Ras Marlon, Lee “Scratch” Perry
sound recordings, sound mix Lorenzo Dal Ri
line producer Taliesin Gilkes-Bower
supported by MiBAC Ministero per i Beni e le Attività Culturali, Regione Lazio, Ethiopian Airlines, Indiegogo, Istituto Italiano di Cultura Addis Abeba, Novara Jazz, Milano Film Festival
Invernomuto was born in 2003 from the collaboration between Simone Bertuzzi,and Simone Trabucchi, based in Milan and Vernasca. Although they primarily work in moving image and sound, Invernomuto also integrate sculpture, publishing, and performance in their practice. Recent solo exhibitions include, in 2015: Africa Addio, pinksummer, Genoa, MALÙ, Istituto Italiano di Cultura, Toronto, Artspeak, Vancouver, Wondo Genet, AuditoriumArte, Rome, Anabasis Articulata,; in 2014: Triennale di Milano, Milan, Marsèlleria, Milan, Negus–Far Eye, Museion, Bozen, I-Ration, ar/ge kunst, Bozen; and previously The Celestial Path, GAMeC, Bergamo, and Simone, Padiglione d’Arte Contemporanea, Ferrara. Group shows and festivals (selection): Nero su Bianco, American Academy, Rome, La Scrittura degli Echi, MAXXI, Rome, Glitch. Interferenze tra arte e cinema in Italia, PAC Padiglione d’Arte Contemporanea, Milan, Black Star Film Festival, Philadelphia, Così Accade, Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, Turin,Terre Vulnerabili, Hangar Bicocca, Milanand Netmage 09, Bologna. In 2013 Invernomuto was a finalist in the 9th Edition of the Furla Art Award and won the first edition of the MERU ART*SCIENCE Award. In 2016 they produce their first full-length film Negus, also selected for Berlinale Talents (Berlin). Bertuzzi and Trabucchi also pursue individual practices in the field of music, performing under the names Palm Wine and Dracula Lewis respectively.
www.invernomuto.info