Gabrielle Goliath's Elegy Performances Against Gender Violence at Raffaella Cortese

South African artist Gabrielle Goliath (Kimberly, 1983) presents her ongoing project 'Elegy' at Galleria Raffaella Cortese in Milan, Via Stradella, across three spaces. The project, conceived in 1991 after a personal encounter with domestic violence that killed a loved one, and discussed with her mother years later, materialized in 2015 as the first of ten performances. Each performance features female opera singers sustaining a single penetrating note for one hour, alternating seven voices, as a lament for victims of gender violence. The exhibition, for the first time, compiles all ten performances into video and audio installations. The gallery is draped in black, with gray cards stacked like tombstones bearing victims' names. A final section displays portraits of Black women against black backgrounds, with touches of light and color—beaded tiaras, multi-strand necklaces—revealing expressions that blend song, cry, and lament. Goliath states, 'I feel obliged to turn to art as a means to confront and fight this difficult and complex theme.' The project aims to remember victims as real people with real lives and voices, and to re-educate society. The exhibition attempts to capture the elusive essence of the laments, leaving visitors touched but not overwhelmed, bringing a distant battle to Milan.