Interview with Schiavelli Patrizia

Early memories of Genazzano Project and youthful perception of its artistic events.

D.O. Donatella Orecchia introduces the testimony of Patrizia Schiavelli, who was an adolescent when Genazzano Project began, inviting her to recall the arrival of Carlo Quartucci and Carla Tatò and any personal involvement with the project. 

P.S. Patrizia Schiavelli recalls a visual and playful memory associated with the small “squares” painted on the village walls, which she and her peers interpreted as markers of a route to be explored. The experience is characterized by curiosity and attraction toward a series of artistic events dispersed throughout the urban space, despite the absence of the cultural tools necessary to fully interpret them.

The witness emphasizes the lack of mediation provided by the school system regarding the artistic activities taking place. She remembers the village as intensely animated and recalls the use of loudspeakers to broadcast announcements, particularly in relation to Luciano Fabro’s Genealogia, which prompted questions such as, “Why are they reading all these names?”

She also recalls Lawrence Weiner’s wall inscription, Entro il regno dell’illuminazione, which she perceived as a form of “hermetic poetry”, noting that the work still survives, albeit in a deteriorated condition.

The role of the municipal registry office in the realization of Genealogia.

P.S. Patrizia Schiavelli confirms her father’s indirect involvement in the preparatory stages of Genealogia: Carlo Quartucci and Carla Tatò visited the registry office to obtain the lists of residents’ names that were subsequently broadcast through the public address system connected to the church.

She describes her father as a “rational” individual, little inclined toward interpretative reflections on the event, and therefore not the custodian of a particularly significant memory of the experience.

The use of space and the family’s reception of the artistic experience.

P.S. Patrizia Schiavelli states that she never frequented the Ninfeo del Bramante, but remembers Castello Colonna as a place of festive gathering. Overall, the experience is recalled as a period marked by sociability and collective vitality. 

Asked about her family’s response to the project, the witness explains that her home environment – characterized by a high level of education (her father was a mathematician and her mother a pedagogue) – was open to discussion despite difficulties in interpreting the artistic events. Family conversations revolved around questions such as, “What are they doing?” and “It’s difficult to understand its meaning”.

She also recalls Hermann Nitsch’s action, particularly the slaughter of the lamb, an episode that illustrates the diversity of responses generated by the project

D.O. Donatella Orecchia asks whether these reactions should be understood as forms of resistance or simply as expressions of critical questioning. 

P.S. The witness describes a dual response: on the one hand, curiosity and engagement, particularly in projects such as Genealogia, which fostered a sense of belonging; on the other hand, forms of resistance, especially among older generations. 

Youthful perceptions: festivity and sociability. 

P.S. Patrizia Schiavelli summarizes the experience primarily as a festive occasion, emphasizing the social and playful dimensions perceived by younger participants. 

Carla Tatò in the witness’ memory.

P.S. Patrizia Schiavelli offers a strongly iconic image: Carla Tatò is remembered for her blonde hair and perceived almost as a fairy-tale figure, “a princess descending from the Castle”.

Looking back, the witness acknowledges her limited ability at the time to understand the artistic experience, attributing it both to a lack of cultural tools and to what she describes as a “one-directional” educational model. She also situates Carla Tatò within a social category familiar to the local community – that of Roman holidaymakers – highlighting a process through which the artist’s figure was symbolically assimilated into already familiar cultural frameworks.

Loudspeakers and the public communication of Genazzano Project..

P.S. The witness states that she retains no specific memories beyond those related to the broadcasting of names during Genealogia. 

A.M. Arianna Morganti observes that this particular action generated a strong sense of belonging and collective participation. 

The conclusion of Genazzano Project: the perception of a rupture.

P.S. Patrizia Schiavelli describes the end of the experience as a return to silence, marking a clear break with the vitality that had characterized the preceding period. 

She recognizes the project’s distinctiveness in comparison with conventional local festivals, describing it as an experience of a different order, capable of fostering deeper forms of collective engagement.

Conclusion. Final thanks and closing remarks.