With Scythes of Love (Lullaby for the New Millennium)

Ocean Space hosts the repeat of With Scythes of Love (Lullaby for the New Millennium) by Giorgiomaria Cornelio, with Arcicoro (Circolo Arci Franca Trentin Baratto) and music by Roberto Paci Dalò.

The piece conceived by Giorgiomaria Cornelio for the Italian Pavilion’s Public Program takes the form of a poetic-performative device in which the poet’s solitary voice intertwines with the voices of the Arcicoro of Venice, exploring the dream as a space of collective transformation. Starting from the urgency ‘not to get used to dying’, from speculative science fiction and the need to resist desolation and resignation, Cornelio presents an unpublished text that traverses reality and the oneiric dimension. The dream thus emerges beyond escapism, as a field of political potential: a ‘lullaby’ for the new millennium, an act of descent into the ‘earth of the world’. 

The choir acts as a sonic collective, transforming the plurality of voices into a practice of encounter, listening and sharing. In the Tese delle Vergini, reading and singing intertwine the individual dimension of poetry with the choral, giving shape to an event in which matter, environment, body and community connect with an imaginative space through the composition and music of Roberto Paci Dalò. 

A sonic tapestry that unites the ‘pluriphony’ of voices with acoustic instruments and live electronics, creating an acoustic forest populated by ‘minor tones’ and breaths. The word thus becomes a vehicle for participation and the collective construction of meaning, while the dream asserts itself as a political act that opens up possible worlds.

Event realized for the Italian Pavilion at the 61st International Art Exhibition - La Biennale di Venezia, promoted by the Directorate-General for Contemporary Creativity of the Italian Ministry of Culture. Thanks to Banca Ifis for supporting the activities of the Italian Pavilion.

The Public Program is conceived and developed by Angelika Burtscher and Daniele Lupo (Lungomare).

Giorgiomaria Cornelio is a poet, director and performer, and editor of Nazione indiana. His publications include La consegna delle braci (Luca Sossella editore, Fondazione Primoli Prize), La specie storta (Tlon edizioni, Montano Prize, Gozzano Prize), L’Ufficio delle tenebre, the essay Fossili di rivolta and Ogni creatura è un popolo (NERO Editions, winner of the Santarcangelo Festival Fund). Cornelio’s poetry is an interweaving of myth, cinema, theatre and the spoken word, exploring the condition of the ‘crooked species’ – a way of engaging with reality where wounds and distortions offer oblique perspectives, alternative ways of seeing. In his work – suspended between irrelevance and a crossing of the contemporary, between fossils of revolt and figures of wayfarers ever on the move – language remains an indeterminate zone, capturing the world and reshaping it ceaselessly.

Arcicoro is a choir of around 20–25 voices, predominantly female, dedicated to folk and polyphonic singing from various traditions around the world. The repertoire focuses in particular on women’s work songs, continuing a choral practice that weaves together memory, popular culture and political commitment. Founded as part of the Circolo Arci Franca Trentin Baratto and directed by Elida Bellon, Arcicoro maintains a strong community and social dimension, making singing a tool for sharing, resistance and collective construction.

Roberto Paci Dalò is an author, composer, director, visual and sound artist, draughtsman and performer. His work has been appreciated and supported by John Cage, Giya Kancheli and Aleskandr Sokurov, and is presented worldwide, including at the Venice Biennale, Power Station of Art Shanghai, Vienna State Opera and Wien Modern. Art, science, nature and voice are the keywords of his work, which creates a forest of unusual perceptual and sensory spaces. He was a guest at the DAAD Artists-in-Berlin Program and is the founder and director of Usmaradio – the Unirsm Radio Research Centre, where he teaches Exhibit Design. His publications include eBAU (Quodlibet), Ombre (Quodlibet), Filmnero (Marsèll), and Millesuoni. Deleuze, Guattari and Electronic Music, with E. Quinz (Cronopio).