5 Aprile 1972 (April 5,1972) marks a fundamental moment  in the human history.  It all began in the city of Sanremo, Liguria, but quickly extended beyond regional borders. On that day, a team of psychiatrists gathered at the Sanremo Casino to discuss homosexuality in terms of pathology (1^st International Congress of Sexology), but activists belonging to the newly born movement FUORI – Italian Revolutionary Homosexual Unitary Front (Fronte Unitario Omosessuale Rivoluzionario Italiano) – came together from all parts of Europe to oppose homophobia and homopathologisation. Disguised as psychiatrists, a number of FUORI activists sneaked into the conference and opposed against the congress.

Fifty years later, a group of curators -Carlo Antonelli, Anna Daneri, Marco Fiorello, and Francesco Urbano Ragazzi,- created an exhibition on 5 Aprile 1972, highlighting the revolutionary significance of what has been called ‘Italy’s Stonewall’, and using a variety of media and spatial layouts. Historical documents and works of art exhibited give prominence to that point of history, thus making the exhibition an extended moment of joyful celebration.

The pages of the magazine FUORI!, press organ of the homonymous activist group, play a central role in the exhibition. The first issues of the magazine have recently been re-edited in a monumental almanac by Carlo Antonelli and Francesco Urbano Ragazzi (FUORI!!! 1971-1974, Nero Editions 2021). A number of such volumes will be on display in the rooms of Palazzo Grillo, and reading sessions are expected to take place around them

Other documents relating to April 5th and its historical reverberations will be exhibited through the courtesy of the Sandro Penna/FUORI! Foundation, Turin, the Archive of Movements, Genoa, Rai Teche, and a number of ligurian LGBT+ activists. The testimony of two FUORI activists who actively participated in the demonstration against the 1972 Congress of Sexology will be captured in interviews made for the occasion. The voices, the only surviving witnesses to that foundational moment in Italian LGBT+ history, are Angelo Pezzana, the founder of FUORI!, and the designer and activist Riccardo Rosso, who substantially contributed to the design of the magazine.

Veritable ‘show-in-the-show’ is the section devoted to another contributor to FUORI!, the artist and activist Corrado Levi (Turin, 1936). The exhibition will feature some of his works of art on paper, such as the installation Quasi, autoamori di Johnny (2004-2010), consisting of a series of erotic drawings that ‘reconfigure’ the space, Frankenstein, poesia geografica (1982), realized in collaboration with Andrea Pini during Levi’s stay in La Spezia, and Peso Piuma (2009), a collection of lithographs called by the artist “love talismans”.

 Works by artists Dafne Boggeri (Tortona, 1975) and Jacopo Miliani (Florence, 1979) will enrich the show. Both these LGBT+ rights activists are notable for their role in reviving the aesthetic agenda of the liberation movements. Moreover a soundtrack, a music selection curated by two of the most renowned Italian music producers: Populous and Protopapa, will echo in the rooms.

PRESS RELEASE 

IL MANIFESTO – La memoria incerta di una giornata speciale

EXIBART — Quel 5 aprile 1972. Visto da FUORI!

GQ – Storia del movimento LGBTQ+ in Italia

The exhibition April 5, 2022 is organized by Agedo Nazionale and Coordinamento Liguria Rainbow within the  framework of the project “Sanremo 1972/2022: Fifty years of the LGBT+ movement in Italy and the Liguria region, realised through the funding of the Council of Europe, with the support of CIDU (Comitato Interministeriale per i Diritti Umani), and with the patronage of UNAR (Ufficio Nazionale Antidiscriminazioni Razziali), Municipality of Sanremo and CIS (Centro Italiano di Sessuologia). Special thanks go to Primo piano di Palazzo Grillo for the partnership and to Levi’s for the support.  Thanks also to Rai Teche and to the students of Accademia Ligustica di Belle Arti.