On Tuesday 13 September 2022, Fondazione Pastificio Cerere will present Buffer Zone, the first solo exhibition in Rome by Meletios Meletiou (Lemesos, Cyprus, 1989) curated by Gaia Bobò, which will be open to the public from Wednesday 14 September to Friday 21 October 2022.
The project – conceived for Spazio Molini as a site-specific intervention – investigates the apparent familiarity of the motifs and patterns of public space, activating a critical enquiry into the theme of hostile architecture, understood as an expression of a “paranoid and anxious” (Robert Park) design that conflicts with the bodily experience of individuals in urban space, compromising their personal and political freedoms.
The artist’s works are in turn architectures that create physically impacting paths. Impediments, obligatory directions and openings to unexplored viewpoints direct spectators’ attention by affecting their possibilities of movement. In this sense, one could not avoid the reference to the Cypriot socio-political context, echoing in the symbolic concept of wall or barrier.
On the occasion of the exhibition, the artist’s book Epidermis, published by Viaindustriae, will be produced and presented. The publication will bring together a series of theoretical contributions on the main themes of the exhibition and a selection of limited edition prints by the artist.
The exhibition is realised in partnership with the Embassy of the Republic of Cyprus in Rome.
The project, which is promoted by Roma Capitale – Department of Culture, is the winner of the ‘Estate Romana 2022 – Riaccendiamo la Città, Insieme’ Public Notice curated by the Department of Cultural Activities.
