The colors of the rainbow fill the background of the yellow wall of the V Municipio headquarters, and underneath, the title of her latest book ‘Ricordatemi come vi pare’, published posthumously a few months ago, stands out under the image of Michela Murgia, represented with that smiling face that from above dominates the whole of Via Torre Annunziata, a stone’s throw from the archaeological park of Villa Gordiani.
Here, in the heart of East Rome, in the Prenestino neighborhood, where creativity is at home and artistic explosions invade urban spaces, stands the latest work by Laika MCMLIV, the ‘Italian Banksy’, created in the space of a week in honor of the Sardinian writer who passed away a year ago, and conceived by the actor and activist Pietro Turano, vice president of Arcigay Roma, who inspired and coordinated the project.
This time too, as happened in the past with his murals dedicated to women for March 8th or, more recently, for Ilaria Salis in front of the Hungarian embassy, or for Pride Month, the activist and street artist – always with his face hidden by a white mask and his voice filtered by a distorter – wanted to send a message that was both political and social.
From the stage set up under the mural for the inauguration, through the voice of Turano, she addressed the politicians present: “Today we celebrate Michela and her thought. To the politicians I see here in front and who are in the buildings I say only: go back to being the left that defends workers and their rights”. The hundreds of people present, including the secretary of the Democratic Party, Elly Schlein, and the former president of the Chamber Laura Boldrini, gave her the loudest applause of the evening.
On the evolution of this project, Turano reveals that “it was born from the meeting between us at Arcigay Roma and Laika, about a month and a half ago. I was shocked by the idea, so the first thing I did was immediately contact Lorenzo Terenzi and Chiara Valerio, who were super enthusiastic about the project. Having quickly obtained authorization from the Municipality, we got to work day and night and in a week we created this fantastic work both aesthetically and from a symbolic point of view”.
“This location was chosen – continues Turano – first of all because it is a Municipality with a very high cultural and artistic vivacity and then obviously also because it is a central place for the Roman rainbow community”.
With regard to the controversy that has arisen in recent days following the declarations of ‘pro-life’ exponents, Turano reiterates that “if they were not given credibility by the right-wing politics that are in power today we would laugh, but it is necessary to respond collectively, as the movement has taught us, taking to the streets, painting walls and demanding rights”.
Lorenzo Terenzi, married in “articulo mortis”, then spoke in memory of Michela Murgia: “It is an indescribable emotion to be here under this image of Michela. I took the photo and I chose it because it is the photo of a person who is not ashamed of being herself, despite the illness and many other things. My dream is therefore that the people who pass by here and look at this work will be able to look inside themselves, each develop their own ego and be able to be themselves”.
Representing the institutions, in addition to the president of the V municipality, the councilor for Culture, Miguel Gotor, and Roberto Gualtieri spoke. The mayor of Rome stated that “this mural conveys Michela’s fantastic personality and helps us to move forward decisively towards all our battles for rights. Because a city that fails to give rights to each citizen is a city where everyone is less well off”.