L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, MARCH 12, 2015 www.italoamericano.com L'Italo-Americano 5 Urban Art, Italian Style The creative unit Cyop&Kaf are urban artists in the truest sense of the word. Not content to limit the avenues of their e x p r e s s i o n t o s t r e e t a r t , Cyop&Kaf moved on to pho- tography, illustrated books, and most recently documentaries. T h e y m a k e t h e i r h o m e i n Naples, Italy where, over the past three years, they have been working in the impoverished Spanish Quarter. The first result of their col- laboration was a book, QS – Quartieri Spagnoli. Afterwards, the book morphed into a docu- m e n t a r y , I l S e g r e t o ( T h e Secret), which tries to convey the complex reality of a con- tentious neighborhood, very much afflicted by prejudice. One member of the duo decided to bring the documentary to San F r a n c i s c o , a s p a r t o f a n A m e r i c a n t o u r t h a t i n c l u d e s Columbia, Missouri as well. T h e f i l m w a s s c r e e n e d o n January 22 nd at the Museo Italo A m e r i c a n o , c o u r t e s y o f S a l v a t o r e V i s o n e o f t h e E V Group, in collaboration with Consulate General of Italy in San Francisco and the Istituto I t a l i a n o d i C u l t u r a S a n Francisco. Il Segreto was shot over two weeks in January 2013, featur- ing a children's gang roaming through the streets in search of firewood to build a bonfire for St. Anthony's day, which falls on the 17 th of January. It is an o l d t r a d i t i o n t h a t i s p a s s e d down from generation to gener- ation. To ensure the success of their project, the boys - whose ages range from 5 to 15 years old - start collecting spruce and discarded Christmas trees right a f t e r N e w Y e a r ' s d a y . A s shown in the film, the group stows their loot in a concealed p l a c e , h e n c e T h e S e c r e t , i n order to protect it from raids by r i v a l g a n g s . T h e f i l m d o c u - ments the gang's frantic search, their camaraderie, their ques- tionable relationship with adults and authorities, and their deter- mination in reaching their goal, which brings them to undertake semi-illegal conduct, and often skip school. To ensure that their firewood is well protected, they even keep watch overnight. Cyop&Kaf were also invited by the IIC San Francisco for the event "Rudders Adrift", featur- ing the book Taranto – A year in the old city. Taranto, like Naples, is an Italian port-city that is both famous and infa- m o u s f o r c o n t r i b u t i n g s t e e l m i l l s t o i t s e c o n o m y w h i c h r e s u l t e d d i s a s t r o u s c o n s e - quences for the inhabitants and their environment. The artists' intention was to document their time spent in the city, painting abandoned and unused build- ings, in order to return the city to its original state of dignity a n d v i b r a n c y . T o d o s o , Cyop&Kap often enlisted the help of local children, who ini- tially found the artists amusing, but left with pride in their sup- porting roles. Here are some of the artists' insights on their own works. Who are Cyop&Kaf, and how did your collaboration develop? C y o p & K a f i s a d u o w h o paint separately, but write in f i r s t p e r s o n . W e h a v e b e e n working for twenty years in the c i t y o f N a p l e s , t r y i n g t o " r e w r i t e " i t a n d r e d e f i n e i t s s p a c e s . W i t h t h e s a m e approach, over the last three years, we have painted walls, shops, and abandoned buildings o f t h e S p a n i s h Q u a r t e r . W e have dotted the whole neighbor- hood with more than two hun- dred works and murals, which, all together, create a real path to a renewed identity. In fact, in both of our books, we included a map that indicates all of the cities' spots that we have paint- ed. Our works give passersby an excuse to explore spots that, more often than not, are consid- ered dangerous and typically avoided. Also, we work togeth- er with ten other people, with whom we write and publish a m o n t h l y n e w s p a p e r c a l l e d Napoli Monitor. What kind of artists are you? W e l i s t e n t o t h e u r b a n sounds of the environment we live in, and we paint according- ly. The murals offer a quirky deformation of reality, in which the inhabitants are not obliged to recognize themselves, but at the same time they can draw i n s p i r a t i o n f r o m t h e m . O u r works are not meant to be mir- rors in which people admire t h e m s e l v e s . T h e y a r e r a t h e r " p u d d l e s " w h e r e a n o m a l o u s reflexes and unknown vibra- tions can be glimpsed. How was the documentary "Il Segreto" born? By spending a lot of time in the streets, we developed a spe- cial relationship with the kids who actually spend their lives there. At first, we envisioned how we could tell their stories and show their point of view on the city they live in, by creating a group portrait that is not dis- criminatory or over-inflated. The final result offers a view of a very old tradition: the St. A n t h o n y ' s d a y b o n f i r e ( i n N e a p o l i t a n : i l c i p p o ) . Cyop&Kaf use this tradition as a lens to describe the relation- ship between the children and their city, the authorities, and t h e a d u l t s . O u r g o a l w a s t o make all the shades possible emerge, by avoiding prejudices and clichés. Y o u r d o c u m e n t a r y received several national and international awards. What do you think is the main rea- s o n w h y i t g a i n e d s o m u c h attention by the critics? M o s t l i k e l y t h e f i l m w a s awarded because it shows some narrative tension, which I think, can be lacking in the standard documentary format, the stan- dard format being a narrating v o i c e w i t h a s s o r t e d i n t e r - views. I am aware of the fact that they are definitely more accurate, but they can lack pas- sion. W h a t k i n d o f b o o k i s "Taranto – un anno in città vecchia"? W i t h t h e s a m e a p p r o a c h used to create the book about the Spanish Quarter, we spent a year in the old town of Taranto, located in the Italian region of A p u l i a , f o u n d e d b y t h e S p a r t a n s i n t h e 7 t h c e n t u r y B.C. We wanted to document the situation of many areas of the city afflicted by the steel mills and their pollution, and the gradual urban decay. The c i t y h a s e x p a n d e d o v e r t h e years, with many people ending u p l i v i n g i n b i g s l a b b l o c k s with almost no utilities. We have collected several photos of our paintings and murals, and retold old stories of this ancient city. To do so, we were inspired by the American histo- rian Studs Terkel, whom we considered a maestro of jour- nalism. BIANCA FRIUNDI Street art by Cyop&Kaf From the documentary "Il Segreto" From the documentary "Il Segreto"

• Cover