Every year, on January 22, the towns of Anzio and Nettuno celebrate the anniversary of the Anzio landings, the so-called “Shingle Operation”. Back then, the colors of the sea, sand and vegetation – blue, brown and green – turned red, changing the elements – and the conscience of people from near and far away places – forever. When WWII swept through Europe, pulling in the major powers around the globe, the men in the tanks and landing craft fought and took part in a massacre to defend our country, leaving their mark on the sea, sand and land of the surrounding towns. Our generation will never forget Pink Floyd’s movie “The Wall”: Roger Waters’(who was recently made an honorary citizen of Anzio) semi-autobiographical story of a young man whose father was killed in action during WWII. Pink, the main character, builds a mental wall between himself and the rest of the world to forget the horrors of war but at the end there is a dramatic turn of events and the wall is torn down. It recalls a historic fact that occurred on November 9, 1989, the fall of the Berlin wall: the following year Roger Waters held a great concert in Berlin to tell the world that a new era of integration had begun. Art, over the past several years, has played a key role in raising awareness of the issue of integration: with Shingle 22j, the 00042 Cultural Association wishes to strengthen the bond between Art and the Anzio landings, to promote a new landing, which does not revolve around a tragic event but around friendship and love and beauty, as well as intercultural debate and freedom of expression. The 00042 Cultural Association wishes to thank all the artists who helped make this possible, by demonstrating, once again, how important and timeless and boundless contemporary art is, and what a key role it plays in raising awareness of topical issues. We would like to dedicate these words to all those who supported – and still support – our project and to all the young people who live in the area, hoping that, together, we can really make a difference and promote Art in our towns. shingle22j
Posted on: Sat, 13 Sep 2014 12:06:29 +0000