Upon arriving to the MACRO museum with a fragment of time to spare, Shara Wasserman introduced us to the Oredaria Arti Contemporance exhibiting the work of Christiane Lohr who creates sculptures of materials from nature, seeds, plants, stalks, and hair. At first glance I was perplexed how these creations could be visually appetizing. What was the big commotion over little balls of hair and twigs intertwined together? Subsequently, Shara introduced the notion of conceptualization, and how these pieces of art are not solely for the pleasure of the naked eye, but delve deeper into the metaphoric symbolism of conceptualization and how Lohr’s work is “rigorous based on the tension, the gravity and the proportion, the distance and the closeness, in where the dichotomy storms between the material’s apparent transitory and the infinite capacity of conservation.” For me, this is symbolic of Italian identity. In his book, Clash of Civilizations Over an Elevator in Piazza Vittorio Amara Lakhous states, “But then who is Italian? Only someone who was born in Italy, has an Italian passport and identity card, knows the language, has an Italian name, and lives in Italy?” (P.15), demonstrating the arbitrariness and contradictory issues of defining what constitutes a “true” Italian. Just as the sculptures created by Christiane Lohr are pieces of dichotomous components all intertwined, and weaved together to make a single entity, I believe that an Italian identity is formed from each individual’s “truth,” past, present, heritage, and common values all intertwined to create one single term of “identity.” However, although the term “identity” a melted into one term, based on our studies and knowledge of the formation of identity, I view the term being a fluid concept that is ever changing and every intertwining.
In relation to Italian identity is Italian youth identity, which has been a main focus in our studies of contemporary Italy. Just as Lohr’s art is a weaving of contradictory materials, identity of Italian youth is derived from many contradictory institutionalized issues such as government, education, and immigration. During his lecture, “Youth and Italy: A resource or a problem?” Amara Lakhous stated, “ Italy is not a place for youth. In Italy it is almost something to feel guilty about, being young.” He continued to inform us of the conflict between contemporary values and traditional values between the youth and older generations. This is evident in Italian politics, where all the men in government are of an older age, and men in their 30’s are still considered “ragazzi” or “kids.” Due to the fact that majority of the electorate is old, it is very difficult to enact or change certain laws because they think twice before passing laws in favor for young people because they favor the older citizens and traditional practices. The lack of concern for youth in politics silences the voice of the younger generations.
In addition to governmental control influencing the youth of Italy, education is another institution helping to shape the identity of youth. I believe education has a key role in subduing discrimination and promoting tolerance of multiculturalism. However the Italian government does not enact laws that promote multiculturalism but instead marginalization. This is evident by the laws instated by Gelmini, who enforced a rule that all Italian classrooms in the public education system have a quota of 30 percent of immigrant students in each class. This reflects racism, intolerance, and separation at the root of politics rather than integration, understanding, and acceptance. I believe that although students may be enrolled in well-grounded schools that teach multiculturalism and diversity, such as Iqbal Masih and Esquillino, the knowledge and execution of the laws enacted by Gelmini insert these racial ideologies into the foreground of the students’ perceptions of others. In addition, in Italian schools many traditions methods of teaching and curriculum are still included within the schedule. In his essay, “Current Research into Education for Immigrants in Italy” Jonathan Chaloff states, “Italian schools do not provide a clear “civic” education: students do not study the organisms of Italian government. Even more important, Italian history classes usually fall behind schedule and rarely manage to reach the mid-20th century by the end of the school year, skipping modern Italian history altogether” reflecting the neglect the government and education policy leaders have when teaching the modern issues of Italy. This is once again demonstrates the concept of praising tradition and the wish to keep the status quo, which in hindsight may cause uproar or rebellion among the Italian youth, as seen with the protests against Berlusconi and Gelmini. Most universities in the United States provide a social system on campus that directs attention to social issues and activities such as gay rights, politics, body issues, athletics, and the arts that allow students to activate their talents and interests in other areas other than academics. This allows youth to exercise their voice and become integrated in society. However, according to Carlos from Arcigay, Italian universities do not provide students with these clubs or social activities. The lack of social organizations available for Italian youth once again silences their voice and blocks their potential to integrate equally into society with the older members of society.
Borders and the inclusion/exclusion of immigrants into the society also shape the identity of the youth in Italy. According to Manka, “Italy is still in its’ youth” demonstrating that although the country has a rich history, many social institutions and changes in relation to immigration and transnationalism influence the social structure of Italy. One of the main factors shaping Italian youth is the North and South divide. The border between the North of Italy and the South of Italy creates a tension between the two groups of people. People shape their own identity in relation to how they view other people. Orientalism or “other-ing” is a force that effects ones own construction of identity. For example, a student in a school whose parents are of Italian heritage, speak Italian, and live in Italy may construct his/her identity as a “true Italian” in comparison to the immigrants in his/her class who are marginalized by the laws enacted by Gelmini. In the essay “Images of the South” the author states, “Identity is the product of comparison” showing that the construction of identity is based on the weaving of ones own experiences and frame of reference, but also from the perception of the experiences and image of “others.”
Although the governmental and educational institutions in Italy pose many contradictions that stem from traditional values, the voice of Italy’s youth is not completely silence due to the utilization of art. The arts provide a subgroup of youth an outlet for public expression. We have seen examples of this on our “Graffiti Walk” and in the streets of Naples, in which young artists created “street art” to address social and political issues in a public sphere allowing their voice to be inserted into society. Naples was the first region in Italy to create street art, beginning in 2000. Since then the phenomenon has boomed as evidenced in the social centers in Italy that are dedicated to the street art. This is also demonstrated in contemporary art as we saw at the MACRO museum with Shara Wasserman where we saw the exhibited by Dan Perjovschi who sketched drawings and dioramas onto the wall reflecting issues in government and society, such as the riots in Egypt, issues with the Church and the Pope, and media culture. I found his exhibit extremely enlightening because it was symbolic of contemporary society in that his piece is always altering and changing. When a new issue occurs in the world, he reverts back to the gallery to add to his piece. However, with art that is preserved from antiquity, change is not praised, but rather the traditional styles and technique is preserved, showing the society’s respect for tradition, but also unwillingness to digress from the past.
Italian youth identity is a conceptual idea that is intertwined with diverse contradictions within the Italian society that create poles between modern and tradition. Although our studies in Italy are wrapping up, I am still intrigued to learn more about the formation of identity and the youth culture. How will youth culture be same, or different, in five years? In ten years? Why don’t universities provide more of a structure for activism among Italian youth? I hope to continue to learn about politics of identity and how addition of new “raw materials” or experiences and social issues will weave into the base of the formed identity to create a transformation.
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