Italian Artist Valentina Vetturi Brings Alzheimer Café Performance to Sweden

Italian artist Valentina Vetturi (Reggio Calabria, 1979) will present her ongoing project Alzheimer Café in Umeå, Sweden, on September 8, 2018, from 5 to 10 PM, as part of the Room for Performance weekend dedicated to performing arts. The performance, curated by Valentina Sansone and Helena Wikstrom, takes place at Bildmuseet and Norrlandsoperan, supported by the Italian Cultural Institute in Sweden. Alzheimer Café, initiated in 2014, is a cycle of performances, sound installations, and public works exploring memory loss due to Alzheimer's disease. Vetturi collaborated with medical staff and patients across about twelve medical centers in Italy, Germany, and Sweden, recording their singing and humming to create a sonic score of memory. The project draws on her earlier works such as Un Esilio (2011), an artist's book on imaginary memories, and Un Viaggio (2011), an installation using others' visions and memories. Vetturi's practice often involves interdisciplinary research, including hacking and digital culture, as seen in The Corridor of Cyberspace (2016), an artist's book about the Cypherpunk Mailing List (1992–2000). She describes her approach as an 'intruder' in diverse fields, engaging directly with communities. The Alzheimer Café performance features performers inspired by patients, who hum and murmur to create musical elements. The project is dedicated to the persistence of musical memories, which neurologists confirm are among the last to fade.