Christian Caliandro on submerged culture and writing from wounds

In this essay on Artribune, Christian Caliandro reflects on the submerged, neglected dimensions of culture and creativity. He argues that writing originates from trauma, loss, and conflict—a form of revenge and nostalgic reparation. He cites Giorgio Manganelli's reading of a 15th-century anonymous painting at the Uffizi, where young Saint Benedict mends a shattered clay tray, emphasizing the disproportion between divine power and humble miracle. Caliandro links this to the idea that what is sacrificed, forgotten, or hidden constitutes the vital core of culture. He references Aldous Huxley's 1949 letter to George Orwell predicting that conditioning and drug-induced hypnosis would become more effective tools of domination than weapons. The essay also discusses contemporary works and artists that resist being fixed as objects, instead existing as traces of relational processes. Caliandro is an art historian teaching at the Accademia di Belle Arti di Firenze and a member of Symbola Foundation's scientific committee.