Giovanni De Gara – Eldorato

Eldorato is a project about the illusion of a “golden land”, a place of plenty and possibility for the future, a distant land beyond the horizon line that hides it. The project, conceived and produced by the artist Giovanni de Gara (Florence, 1977), is a site-specific installation. The main material is a life-saving object: the “space blankets”, normally used for emergency, and associated in the collective imagination ti the immigrants arriving from the Mediterranean shores. Eldorato’s journey began in 2018 in Florence, from the doors of the Abbey of San Miniato al Monte and then continued in others cities around Italy: the doors of symbolic public places and Italian churches are covered with the same “salvation gold” . Among these monuments, the setting at the Basilica of Sant’Apollinare in Classe, built near the roman multi-ethnic port, resplendent with the golden mosaics that proclaim the salvation and custody of the tomb of Apollinare, the “migrant” that led to the city the message of hope of a new faith. The aim of the project is to promote a profound reflection about hospitality, without distinction of race, gender and creed. The art will give a sign of warmth and salvation, starting from the contemplation of shining, not of gold but for the beauty and simplicity of its message.
Curated by: Emanuela Fiori, Giovanni Gardini