Appunti dal mare
Anna Raimondo

Anna Raimondo’s video Mediterraneo (2014) begins with a simple yet evocative image: an empty glass. Anticipation fills the air as viewers await the slow, deliberate filling of the glass with water, drop by drop. As the minutes pass, the artist’s voice, a steady, rhythmic repetition of “Mediterraneo, Mediterraneo, Mediterraneo”, creates a hypnotic yet unsettling experience. This work itself is an oxymoron, with the feelings it evokes being paradoxical. This twenty-minute performance embodies a profound emotional tension, contrasting the urgent desire to see the glass filled with the slow, almost torturous process. As the blue liquid rises, the clear and precise voice weakens, stumbles, chokes, and ultimately drowns, evoking a powerful urge to intervene. The repetitive mantra and the visual of the rising water serve as a poignant metaphor for the Mediterranean Sea, a site of tragedy where countless lives have sought rescue. The work encapsulates the association between the glass and the mouth “the cavity through which the body swallows life’s lymph,” creating a visceral connection between the viewer and the subject.

Entering the dimly lit room through a dark curtain inscribed with “Il mare si apre ma non si pezza,” visitors are greeted by Derrière la mer. The poetic phrase “Il mare si apre ma non si pezza” evokes the sea’s enduring resilience and unity, inviting contemplation of its vast depths and continuous existence. Beanbag chairs arranged in a semi-circle facing a fabric sheet resembling a banner suggest an interactive setup that invites the audience to sit and engage actively with the installation. The text on the banner, titled “Derrière la mer,” inscribes water currents and waves, using lines that form visual scripts and phrases resembling calligrams.  Voices intertwine with each other, following and responding in a fluid dance of sound and meaning. The sound installation blends languages in an incantatory manner, reflecting the multiplicity of voices and narratives, a recurring theme in Raimondo’s work. Derrière la mer banner is structured into three parts: Vers la mer (Toward the Sea), Traverser la mer (Crossing the Sea) and Au-delà de la mer (Beyond the Sea). The journey begins with performers exploring the voices of the sea through vocal improvisation, setting the stage for an introspective and expansive experience. In the second part, performers delve into the unseen depths of the sea, layering their voices to evoke its mysteries, turbulence, and quietude. The final section  navigates back to solid ground, intricately weaving themes of the sea’s cyclical rhythm and the profound symbolism of new places and soil.

In Raimondo’s work, playful phonetic, linguistic, and cultural references converge in her sound and video pieces. By translating and interpreting the narratives, Raimondo provides an exploration that enriches the audience’s understanding, offering a rich experience that invites empathy. Raimondo explores internal multiplicity and the richness of multiple perspectives within oneself, which seems to resonate with themes of identity and place.

During my involvement with the international critical thinking journal Transeuropéenne during the beginning of the Arab Spring, the review project “Traduire la Méditerranée” (Translation Mediterranean) emphasized the need for new narratives within the region’s societies. Reflecting on Raimondo’s work, it reminds me of the way she seeks a deeper contemplation of cultural intersections and personal narratives. Playful phonetic, linguistic, and cultural references converge in her sound, video installations, and performances. By documenting, translating, and interpreting these narratives, Raimondo provides an exploration that enriches the audience’s understanding, offering a rich experience that invites empathy. She explores internal multiplicity and the richness of multiple perspectives within oneself, resonating with themes of identity and place.

The curated selection of works in the exhibition Appunti dal mare evokes a profound sense of resilience and urgency, serving as a poignant reflection on the humanitarian crisis unfolding in the Mediterranean. Anna Raimondo deftly employs a harmonious interplay of voices, visual motifs, and writings to navigate the turbulent waters of migration and despair. Each voice and visual script within the installation draws from narratives and references that vividly capture the physical and emotional dimensions of these challenges. Through a migrant journey embarked on for their beliefs, hopes, and dreams, Raimondo compels viewers to confront these pressing issues with empathy and introspection. The exhibition thus not only documents the harsh realities faced by refugees seeking safety but also prompts a deep reflection on our shared responsibility in the face of contemporary adversity. As artist present, cultures and languages, presenting diverse perspectives on the sea as an unbreakable and unifying element, not meant for division.

Anna Raimondo (IT) lives and works in Brussels. She uses voice and listening as a platform for encounter, collaboration and exchange as tools for the diffraction of identity. Questioning the limits between private and public, between genders and their connotations, she activates or deconstructs cultural practices to play with and fluidify the notions of identity and subjectivity” (Elena Biserna).

Raimondo completed an MA in Sound Arts at the LCC in London and runs a practice-based Phd between ARBA and ULB University in Brussels: “New genders of listening: voices, silences, bodies and territories”. She has participated in several international solo and collective exhibitions including: “Nasi per l’arte” at Palazzo Merulana (It); “Sound without music” at Casino Forum d’Art Contemporain at Luxemburg (L); “Biennale Nova” at The Centre Wallonie Bruxelles International in Paris (FR); “Fluxus” at Hangar Bicocca in Milan (IT); “Brussels Universelle Multipli.city” at Centrale for Contempory Art (BE).