ICI Vilnius
September 24 - November 3, 2025
Italian Cultural Institute
The second venue of the exhibition project Identity Beyond Borders, curated by Benedetta Carpi De Resmini and sponsored by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, was held at the Italian Institute in Vilnius from September 24 to November 3, 2025.
Vilnius was chosen for its symbolic value linked to historical processes of transformation and reflection on borders and reconstruction. It becomes a cultural laboratory for exploring the connections between past and present, with a particular focus on the social and political changes that have redefined the region. Indeed, with its layering of cultures and languages, Vilnius tells the story of Eastern Europe and its metamorphosis: from the silence of the regime to the plurality of the contemporary world. The city becomes a laboratory of renewal, a place where memory does not weigh heavily but germinates, inviting us to imagine an open and interdependent future.
Site-specific
Some artists have created site-specific works for the exhibition in Vilnius. Elena Bellantoni presents the original masks worn in the video The Fox and The Wolf: Struggle for Power (2014), which transforms the body into a space for conflict resolution. For the opening, Sarah Ciracì presents a video projected onto the facade of the Institute's courtyard: Like an Ocean With Its Waves… (2017), which reinforces the artist's exploration of the relationship between the human and the sacred. The work, based on an aerial shot of the sea, shows the motion of the waves which, as they overlap, generate fields of interference from which multiple, layered visions emerge. Also for the opening, artist Silvia Giambrone presents the performance It Takes Two, which ties into the work on display, in which different voices take turns reading an original text she wrote. The work stems from a reflection on the ambiguity of language, on its nuanced and porous nature, capable of defining boundaries but also of opening up new possibilities. Finally, Tomaso Binga’s poem Sono Ecologica (1987) is displayed on the wall and accompanied by the artist’s audio reading, available via headphones, with a Lithuanian translation. The poem, in which body, language, and politics intertwine, can be read as a form of resistance. In a country that has experienced occupations, resistance, and reconstruction, the ecological body of Binga’s poetry resonates with the stories of rootedness and identity of the Lithuanian people. The poem presents itself as a poetic act of self-affirmation through the body and the earth. A critical, ironic, and feminine gesture that invites us to rediscover vulnerability as a form of strength and a condition for new forms of coexistence.
SILVIA GIAMBRONE
It Takes Two
It Takes Two is linked to the work on display (Mirror no. 34). The performance, in which different voices take turns reading an original text written by the artist, stems from a reflection on the ambiguity of language. Through this performative device, Giambrone attributes an almost metaphysical value to language, one capable of transcending the visible and evoking an intimate and spiritual dimension.
SARAH CIRACÌ
Like an Ocean With Its Waves… (2017)
Sarah Ciracì’s video installation Like an Ocean With Its Waves… (2017) offers a profound invitation to reflect on the relationship between humanity and the world. The work, based on an aerial shot of the sea, depicts the movement of the waves and the ceaseless rippling of the water: a powerful metaphor for the ever-changing mind, the images that pass through it, and their constant transformation.
ELENA BELLANTONI
The Fox and the Wolf: Struggle for Power, 2014 (original masks)
For the first time, the two animal masks used by the tango performers, the Fox and the Wolf, are presented alongside the video work. These masks, much like the protagonists they represent, engage in their own subtle power play, further reinforcing the work’s exploration of dualities and symbolic confrontation.
TOMASO BINGA
Sono Ecologica, 1987
In the visual poem Sono Ecologica, the artist reinterprets ecology, weaving together themes such as the body, language, and politics. The poem presents itself as a poetic act of self-affirmation through the body and the earth. It is a critical, ironic, and feminine gesture that invites us to rediscover vulnerability as a form of strength and a prerequisite for new forms of coexistence.
