Youth, remembrance and creativity in face of society’s identity crisis - the role of memorial sites in Europe
Liceo Rosmini, Grosseto
memory box
Ida Castellaneta, Laura Minelli
This work is called The Memory Box. We have applied on this wooden structure the buttons of some keyboards of old computers to form the phrase: "On 22/03/1944, 11 birds flew away"; that
refers to the main subject of our work, of the bird inside the box, made with pieces of CDs and in this case does not represent the 11 boys killed, but their memory, in fact, it is transparent because it is an abstract concept.
freedom
Elettra Betti
This graffiti symbolises FREEDOM. Everyone should be free to do and say what he wants. I wrote the word freedom in different languages, because it is a fundamental right for every human being. Whatever you are, if you are religious or not, Catholic, Muslim, rich or poor, you are equal to others, you are neither above nor below other people. The noose I put in this work tells us that you will always find someone who wants to limit your freedom, for example in some countries you are not allowed to express your opinion, otherwise
you are imprisoned or killed. Moreover, at the top of the graffiti I also put some barbed wire to underline the fact that in many countries there is no freedom of opinion.
going back home
Giulio Giovannini, Giulia Meneghini, Lavinia Tarentini
Our work represents the door which separates the 11 victims from their families. They try to go back home but cannot because of their death. We used a blackboard as a reference to the message that 2 of the guys left to their mother. If you compare the original writing to what we wrote, you’ll see that the character is different. We took inspiration from graffiti found in Grosseto. which represents the connection between past and present. If you look at the letters you’ll notice 11 tears which are the desperation of the 11 guys that were executed. We obtained the tears by mixing white paint and water.
learn not to fail again
Edoardo Bramerini
First, I decided to use this wall because it stands right at the entrance of the building and I want all
the people to look at it carefully and understand its meaning. It's like a welcome for the people, not only for this exhibition but perhaps for the future "Casa della Memoria al Futuro". With this picture, I want to underline the importance of being always united, because being united make us stronger. Moreover, killing people, especially childreen or teenagers, is ethically wrong. We must hold in our arms the power of love, life, freedom and brotherhood, because they are the soul of our existence. I decided to show the 11 guys feeling happy rather than sad and worried, because I hate being pessimistic and I really love happiness. I think life is a present which God gave to all of us and for that reason we should enjoy it until the end. Moreover I wanted to represent the woman I drew with a double-meaning face. On her left side,
her hair is straight and that refers to love, which is a straight path until it completely disappears. On her right side, her hair is curly and that refers to life, which asks for dedication and knowledge.
the bloody swing
Elisa Cheli, Alice Albiati, Chiara Avvento
This swing represents the youth and the innocence of the 11 killed here, in Maiano Lavacchio, on the 22nd March 1944. The shelf which makes up the swing is completely covered with a white gauze painted in red and it symbolises their blood. Hanging from the swing there are 11 balls, because we wanted to recreate the pureness of their souls (the balls) sorrounding their dead bodies (the deflated balloons). The meaning behind this idea is to symbolise the immortality of their actions and ideas. To make these balls we used a rope around an inflated balloon and then we pierced it with a toothpick to deflate it, symbolising the shot of the shotgun which killed the 11 martyrs.
the door without the key
Cipolla Giorgia, Di Felice Siria, Gamberi Elisa, Pashollari Selime
We imagined to remember the eleven victims of Maiano Lavacchio in a particular way, probably because we put together different materials that are unusual for a work like this, like this door. We also wrote a phrase against war on the keyboard. We painted the door with a pale yellow colour to make a contrast between it and the black and red of the table. Under the table we put a book which will possibly contain the words of the visitors that will come to this memorial. We broke a dress to remember the clothes of the victims, we colored it with some red and black tempera and we put it on the door handle.
the freedom eater
Francesca Costanzo, Gaia Caudai
This project is about the repression of freedom of expression, thought and press during the second world war. An example of opposition to the law took place here, in Italy, in Maiano Lavacchio, on 22nd of March 1944. 11 young men were executed by the National Republican Guard and German soldiers because they didn’t join the Army, indeed they believed in the principles of pacifism against the war and the Fascist government.
the scent of immortality
Merve Bera Eskin, Busra Bozuyla
With the black light bulbs we represented the life of the 11 young people. The dull life of these 11 boys, with the typical elements of the Maremma (Rosemary, cypresses, the lava coal = represents the Amiata Mount that is an extinct volcano like the light bulbs) is represented in a landscape around Mount Amiata. We used rosemary which at the time represented the immortality of the soul. In our scenario you can see a tree coming out of the volcano, in the tree we hung the victims' photos with a red thread which, together with the black-white photos, represent the anti-fascism, found also on the cardboard bottom.
