Lo sceriffo e la moschea itinerante

Opening in Museion in September, the show explores the concepts of “Heimat” and “homeland” in the light of the current political situation in Europe. It is preceded by five presentations of artist’s books by Nicolò Degiorgis, which will be exhibited in Museion Passage and in parallel in settings outside the museum that relate to the contents of each book.

This new event involves the Seminario Maggiore in Bressanone, which plays host to Hidden Islam (24/05 – 15/07/2017), the artist’s book that won Degiorgis the prestigious Author Book Award at Rencontres d’Arles in 2014. Hidden Islam explores the hidden reality of the Islamic communities in the north east of Italy, which Degiorgis frequented and mapped over five years, from 2009 to 2014. His focus was on the makeshift prayer venues used by the community: industrial warehouses, garages, shops and night clubs.

Indeed Italy has only four official mosques to serve 1.3 million Muslims. In addition to the book itself, the Seminario Maggiore in Bressanone also exhibits a number of photographs taken from it. Hidden Islam is also the inspiration for Degiorgis’ new artist’s book, Lo sceriffo e la moschea itinerante (The Sheriff and the Travelling Mosque), which is on show in Museion Passage.

This regards the Islamic community in Treviso, and in particular the difficulties it faces in trying to find a place of worship. The project takes the form of images and articles from the local newspaper “La Tribuna di Treviso”, as well as an audio track. Lo sceriffo e la moschea itinerante is also presented in installation form: sheets of paper bearing what look like notes, pinned to a large cork noticeboard.