Teofanie
“The Locride is a sacred place. The Greeks chose it to celebrate Persephone and Athena, as the current archaeological area of Locri Epizephyrii reveals. A place of my childhood summers, magical, where the elders used to tell all kinds of stories. A place where the Sapphic poetess Nosside was celebrated, as witnessed by her statue facing the sea.
As an adult, I returned to Locri when my grandparents passed away. Feeling as a stranger now, I needed to reappropriate and understand the stories that defined this place. In a way, to summon its magical character. Using photography, to witness and experience, re-establishing contact with the constituent elements of the place. I set out to return to the sacred areas of Locri Epizephyrii, searching for the female figures celebrated by the Greeks. Consulting the extensive photographic archive of the national archaeological museum helped me understand the transformation of the territory. Decisively, video-performances allowed me to stage and interpret some rituals, myths and stories – somehow averting my torments, producing a new narrative composed of fragments as chapters of a larger story. In the words of Byung-Chul Han: ‘Rites stabilise life, make time habitable’ – in my journey, recreate a sense of belonging I had lost, an intimate and precious connection.”
BIO
ELEONORA PACIULLO
(1993)
Eleonora Paciullo is an Italian photographer, book designer and photo-editor of The Light Observer magazine. In her artistic practice she explores places, whether real or hyperreal, mental or physical, experimenting with different media. In her projects, the female figure is central whether taken from a video game, a real country or a mythological past.
Her latest project Almar’a was exhibited at COTM 2022, while the project This is L.A. was exhibited at the festival Circulation(s) 2021, Paris, and has been published in 6mois and PhMuseum. She has also been published in The Light Observer and in Lezioni di Fotografia by Corriere della Sera.
In addition to her artistic practice, Eleonora has worked for several publishing houses. She has also collaborated with the photographer Joan Fontcuberta on a wide variety of projects.