Alessandra Ferrini. I Saw a Dark Cloud Rise

The Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo hosts I Saw a Dark Cloud Riseartist's solo exhibition Alessandra Ferriniwhich lucidly and analytically addresses the intersections between imagination, technology and ideologyfrom a critical reflection on the legacy of the Italian colonial violence in Libya. At the centre of the project, a three-channel video installation of the same name, commissioned by the Foundation, is accompanied by a reading environment that serves as a space for in-depth analysis and historical contextualisation.

Ferrini uses art to unmask the ideological connections between colonialism and technological progresstracing the historical moments that gave rise to the mythicisation of aerial vision and the aesthetics of war. Through a visual and theoretical analysis that interweaves propaganda, iconography, desire and memory, the artist investigates the impact of the Italo-Turkish War (1911-1912) on military thinking and Italian nationalismhighlighting the introduction of aerial bombardment and wireless technologies as tools of domination.

A plaque dedicated to Guglielmo Marconi at the Sanctuary of Oropa and an ex-voto linked to the Shar al-Shatt massacre become food for thought on the Italian imperialist outlook and its persistent influences in Western visual culture. Through the concept of white sightFerrini deconstructs the proto-fascist aesthetic linked to the Futurism and invites us to imagine new forms of visual and political narrative. The exhibition is completed with references to the historical memorythanks to the collaboration with Turin cultural institutions such as Biennale Democrazia, Polo del '900 and Istoreto.