Cristiano Leone's Atlas of Performing Culture maps global performative arts

Cristiano Leone has published 'Atlas of Performing Culture' (Rizzoli, 2023), a volume exploring performative experiences across four continents. In an interview with Laura Bevione, Leone explains his choice of 'culture' over 'art' to emphasize performativity as an anthropological drive inherent to human beings, manifesting in rituals, social media, and live events. He argues that performance is a co-creation between artists and audience, never identical when repeated. The book covers festivals, theaters, and cultural centers, highlighting the visionary individuals behind them. Leone defines theater as 'the matrix of performativity' and notes that traditional forms coexist with contemporary ones like video dance and digital theater. He asserts that performance will not perish as long as humans seek communal expression. The volume includes experiences from multiple continents, united by the human quest for meaning.