|
 Technicians are using power hoses on the dirty stone to
stencil the 550-metre-long "Triumphs and Laments", which is
based on charcoal drawings by South African artist William
Kentridge.
On display are Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius, Italian dictator
Benito Mussolini and the she-wolf who according to legend
suckled the city's mythical founders, Romulus and Remus.
Also among the silhouetted figures are the dead bodies of
20th-century filmmaker and writer Pier Paolo Pasolini and
murdered former prime minister Aldo Moro.
But organizers say the stenciled shapes will be allowed
gradually to fade from view again as the grime slowly reclaims
them.
"The idea is to create an ephemeral work of art," the project's
technical director Gianfranco Lucchino, said on the riverside
path. "The drawings ... will remain very temporary."
Long delayed by bureaucracy, the mural project will be
officially unveiled in April.
Up to 10 meters (33 feet) tall, on walls built to protect Rome
from floods in the 1800s, the monochrome figures tell a story
full of contrasts, Kentridge told Rome's La Repubblica newspaper
last month.
[to top of second column] |
"The Tiber is a river swollen with glory and pain. On one side the
fortune of the popes, on the other the suffering of the Jewish
Ghetto. Above ... a pulsating, splendid city; below, under the
bridges, the desperation of the homeless," he said.
Tevereterno, the non-profit group organizing the project, hopes the
art can help inspire and speed up urban regeneration.
Kentridge said he did not want to give people a history lesson, so
the designs were not laid out in chronological order.
"It is bit like putting a stethoscope on the banks of the Tiber and
listening to the city tell its story," he said.
The frieze is due to provide the backdrop for a live shadow play and
a brass band procession.
(Reporting by Antonio Denti and Cristiano Corvino; Writing by Isla
Binnie; Editing by Gareth Jones)
[© 2016 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2016 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. |
