Music, poetry, and activism at the Averna Spazio Open of the Cantieri Culturali Zisa in Palermo
“Free Palestine!” is the cry launched by Chiara Bruno, known as Pridea, during the concert “Summer Secrets” organized by Our Voice on July 21 at the Averna Spazio Open of the Cantieri Culturali Zisa in Palermo. In front of her, a microphone with the Palestinian flag tied to the stand; behind her, two green smoke bombs frame the evocative walls of the Cantieri. The other musicians of the Our Voice band also shout: “Free Palestine!” And in an instant, that motto echoes through the crowd present.
The evening marks the conclusion of a journey carried out over the past year by the boys and girls of the Association. Through bi-monthly music camps, they created numerous unpublished works; all written, composed, and arranged by themselves. “We wanted to create a place to share the emotions and feelings we experience,” said Pridea from the stage.
In front of her, hundreds of people; some standing, some sitting, some lying on the ground among cushions, carpets, and lights illuminating the path. No VIP chairs or private areas. Our Voice recreated an intimate space to listen to good music and, indeed, to share some secrets of this warm summer.
Many artists and musicians performed after the initial jam session in which the microphone and instruments were made available to local and non-local singers. Besides Pridea, there was also Sara Santamaria, Asia Centofante, Delarose, Lou, and Diego, as well as Luca Pignotti, Giovanni B. Capanna Piscé, Andres Gonzalez Rosales, and Marco Casagrande.
Poe tried to intermingle the pieces: another artistic form capable of riding feelings and emotions. “I fall in love with bodies that move, with strange beings. Mysterious pupils searching for a nest to find themselves. They shrink and grow like the hunger to feel, yearning for an idea, in constant search of something that will probably never come – recites Sonia Bongiovanni, actress and president of Our Voice –. We are orphans of the world of art. Fearless beings, insatiable like the dark. The dark has knocked at my door so many times, and I was with my back to it. And it ran fast behind me, but I tried to run faster. It knocked loudly, so loud that all I wanted was to sink into it. With hands soaked in cold, drowned in the ground. The head surrendered, helpless, crouched over it. But my pupil walks, eager for life, looking for other streets. I focus, I realize you: timid beams of light. Your soul spreads life in every creature that looks. It is the hand of art, intertwined with green and dark branches, alive and dry. That regenerating, stretches toward mine and tries to grasp me to preserve me from the me that wants to sink every day into the void, repeatedly.”
There were many musical genres that colored the evening: from rock to hip hop, from indie to blues. In closing, house music with the dj set of Ornella P, which brought hundreds of people to the dance floor.
Photo © Paolo Bassani
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Palermo July 21 – ”Our Voice” in concert: ”SUMMER SECRETS”