Luis Alberto Rodriguez
and Afra Zamara

Costumes Archive, Festival dei Due Mondi

 

Supported by Carla Fendi Foundation

 

From a recent collaboration between Rodriguez and Zamara for Acne Paper. Photography: Luis Alberto Rodriguez, Set: Afra Zamara. Second Name Agency.

Photographer Luis Alberto Rodriguez and set designer Afra Zamara join us in Spoleto to explore and document the Festival dei Due Mondi costumes archive, which has recently been catalogued by Monica Trevisani and a team of conservators. The archive holds approximately 3000 costumes, illustrating the history of performance (dance, theatre and opera) at Spoleto’s festivals from the early 1960s to the 2000s whilst charting shifting attitudes to culture and fashion. It includes the costume worn by Rudolf Nureyev for Raymonda (1964), the costumes for Modest Mussorgsky’s Boris Godunov (1971), Jacques Offenbach’s Les contes d’Hoffmann (1989), and Gian Carlo Menotti’s Amahl and the Night Visitors (1996). Drawing on their backgrounds in dance and scenography, Rodriguez and Zamara will reactivate the archive: capturing the flare and detail of the original designs, whilst inventing new situations for the costumes and exploring relationships between performance, dress and expressions of identity.

Luis Alberto Rodriguez

Dominican-American Luis Alberto Rodriguez trained as a dancer throughout his childhood, graduating from La Guardia High School before receiving a BFA from The Juilliard School and performing worldwide for fifteen years before turning to photography. Now, he continues to study the human form’s movement, often using his subject’s body sculpturally and abstractly. In 2017, Rodriguez won both the Prix de Public and the American Vintage prize at the 32nd Hyeres Festival of Fashion and Photography. In the Spring of 2018, Rodriguez was named one of Red Hook Labs New Artists. In 2020, Rodriguez published People of the Mud, with Loose Joints, following a residency in Wexford, Ireland, reflecting on how cultures shape and are shaped by individuals. Rodriguez lives in Berlin. luisalbertorodriguez.com | Second Name Agency

Afra Zamara

One might say that Afra Zamara’s entire life has centered around creating environments. Born in Italy and growing up in Nigeria, Zamara’s childhood was rooted in innovative design with ecologically-friendly principles. Nominated in the 2021 NEW WAVE creatives listed by the BFC, Zamara earned a degree from the London College of Communications with an interest in photography. In time she found herself drawn to the creative energy and collaboration involved within set design. Zamara is celebrated for her interest in the deconstruction and re-purposing of materials; she is on a trajectory to truly incorporate the concepts of sustainability into her practice. Additionally, Zarnara is well-known for collaborating with and spotlighting emerging artists through the curation of her sets. Her editorial clients include AnOther, POP, Dazed, Double, and Arena Homme. She is based in London. afrazamara.comSecond Name Agency

 

Carla Fendi Foundation

The Carla Fendi Foundation promotes and creates artistic events, restorations, social projects, science and research. Since forming in 2007, the Foundation has collaborated with the Festival dei Due Mondi, Spoleto, becoming its Main Partner in 2012. Among its projects in Spoleto, the Foundation organises the annual Premio Carla Fendi, which was awarded to Carol LeWitt and Marina Mahler in 2021 for their services to culture in Spoleto. The funds from the prize are supporting a series of residencies and artistic projects at the Mahler & LeWitt Studios. fondazionecarlafendi.it

Festival dei Due Mondi

The Festival dei Due Mondi was founded by the opera composer Gian Carlo Menotti in 1958 and was one of the first multi-disciplinary arts festivals of its type. It quickly garnered international recognition for developing and promoting avant-garde art. It takes place in June and July each year and makes use of the numerous exhibition and performances venues boasted by the town of Spoleto – including the Teatro Romano, two opera houses, and several churches. The director of the festival is Monique Veaute. festivaldispoleto.com

Mahler & LeWitt Studios

The Mahler & LeWitt Studios offers a programme of residencies and special projects based around the former studios of Anna Mahler and Sol LeWitt in Spoleto, Italy. The Torre Bonomo, a medieval tower once used as a residency and exhibition space by the gallerist Marilena Bonomo, is also central to the program. mahler-lewitt.org