Romaeuropa Festival 2026: Pankaj Tiwari's Agricultural India and Vinicio Capossela's Ballad Opera
The Romaeuropa Festival 2026 in Rome, ongoing until 15 November, features two productions that delve into themes of memory, land, and loss. Pankaj Tiwari's The Harvest of Broken Promises intertwines personal recollections with broader historical narratives, utilizing clay, dehri containers, and found footage to reflect on the effects of India's neoliberal transformation in the 1990s on agriculture. Tiwari juxtaposes Vandana Shiva's perspectives with the philanthropy of the Gates Foundation, illustrating a landscape transformed by corporate-modified seeds. Meanwhile, Vinicio Capossela's ballad opera E morte non avrà dominio, inspired by Renato Striglia's life and Dylan Thomas's writings, offers a preview of the album Milk Wood Bar, set to release on 27 January. This performance incorporates a 'shortwave piano' and critiques governmental security measures, including the evictions of Spin Time and Angelo Mai, concluding with a quote from Dylan Thomas.
Key facts
- Romaeuropa Festival 2026 runs until 15 November in Rome.
- Pankaj Tiwari, from Balrampur, India and based in Amsterdam, presented The Harvest of Broken Promises.
- Tiwari's work uses hand-modelled clay, dehri containers and found footage to address India's 1990s neoliberal opening.
- The performance contrasts Vandana Shiva's scientific wisdom with the Gates Foundation's philanthropy.
- Vinicio Capossela's ballad opera E morte non avrà dominio features Pierpaolo Capovilla.
- The opera is freely adapted from the life of Renato Striglia and the work of Dylan Thomas.
- Capossela's new album Milk Wood Bar, with fifteen unreleased songs, is out on 27 January.
- The production cites the evictions of social spaces Spin Time and Angelo Mai in its criticism of the government.
Entities
Artists
- Pankaj Tiwari
- Vandana Shiva
- Vinicio Capossela
- Pierpaolo Capovilla
- Renato Striglia
- Dylan Thomas
- Vincenzo Vasi
- Luca Giovacchini
- Raffaele Tiseo
- Riccardo Loda
- Elvis Zini
- Irene Sciacovelli
- Gaia Barco
- Hayao Miyazaki
- Tim Burton
- Ornella Vanoni
- Nada
Institutions
- Romaeuropa Festival
- Gates Foundation
- Spin Time
- Angelo Mai
- Milk Wood Bar
Locations
- Rome
- Italy
- Balrampur
- India
- Amsterdam
- Netherlands
- Turin
Sources
- Artslife —