An ancient, decommissioned church, a gentle sunlight, and a vibrant interconnection between interior and exterior. These are the elements that make up “There is so much we can learn from the sun“, the artistic project conceived by Marinella Senatore for Le Scalze, a relational and community space that has long inhabited and taken care of the Monumental Complex of the Church of San Giuseppe delle Scalze in the central Avvocata district of Naples.

Drawing inspiration from the natural element that for centuries has made churches a space of the otherworldly and the mystical – the light – Marinella Senatore envisions an exhibition path of strong iconic significance, which finds its strength in the dynamics of exchange. Light installation, luminous sculptures, collages, and banners harmonize with the historical preexistences and the contemporary social life that animates the space daily, confirming the strong relational and participatory orientation of the artist’s research. On this occasion, she brings to Naples, for the second time, the educational project “The School of Narrative Dance” (SOND), a nomadic, free, and itinerant school proposing an alternative educational system based on emancipation, plurality, and horizontal training.

Realized and promoted by Collezione Agovino, in collaboration with Galleria Mazzoleni, the artistic project, comprising an exhibition and a performance, meets the challenge of opening new opportunities for dialogue between the past – of an old place of worship – and the present, characterized by the space of relation.

In the nave of the church, the exhibition path comprises works that emotionally solicit interaction, as they all converge, despite their figurative diversity, towards the central installation, where gold stands out and overwhelms the unreachable silhouette of a setting sun. Gold, a symbolic bridge between the visible and invisible, between human and otherworldly, becomes in this case a beacon of light capable of spreading warmth, kindness, interconnection, and unity. The exhibited works narrate the result of a journey made among people, where life and art intertwine, allowing the latter to enact its transformative potential, culminating in a collective performance in which individual stories, collective imaginaries, and social structures mix and redefine themselves.

“There is so much we can learn from the sun” is a celebration, a way of shining light on the world, on the stories of the people encountered and recounted by Marinella Senatore in her works, in a crescendo of collective celebration that finds voice in the inscription of the light installation that greets the gaze at the entrance of the church: “A blend of common humanity“. It is a collective ritual, a constant dialogue in which individual interventions, the works, the performance, the space, and the encounters reveal an extended process based on the idea that every person can express meaning, deconstruct and recreate imaginaries through participation. It is a project that becomes a laboratory of sharing.

Text by Francesca Blandino