Anna Scalfi Eghenter transforms Trento's Teatro Sociale into a supermarket

Italian artist Anna Scalfi Eghenter has turned the Teatro Sociale in Trento into a temporary supermarket installation titled 'Interim Measure (Misura Temporanea)'. The project, produced by Centro Servizi Culturali S. Chiara with support from Fondazione Romaeuropa, features supermarket shelving units decorated with motifs inspired by the theater's boxes. The installation critiques the classification of cultural venues as 'non-essential' during pandemic lockdowns, while supermarkets remained open. Due to ongoing restrictions, the supermarket could not actually function as a store; it was inaugurated but remains closed to the public until April 26, 2021, when theaters in Italy's 'yellow zone' are allowed to reopen. The work highlights the paradox of a theater being deemed non-essential while a supermarket is essential, and uses the legal framework to argue for the reopening of cultural spaces.