Luca Vitone's Pro Tempore: A Voyage Tracing Napoleon's Exile

Luca Vitone's project Pro Tempore, documented in a series titled ESILIO by Carlo Antonelli, involves a sailing journey between the Island of Elba and Saint Helena, retracing Napoleon Bonaparte's exile routes. The work, conceived as a film in collaboration with Elvio Manuzzi, explores themes of power, absence, and temporal suspension. The voyage, which began in Venice, includes stops at Portoferraio, Mahon in Menorca, Ibiza, and Gibraltar, where a Starlink technician will install equipment for the Atlantic crossing. Vitone's earlier work Romanistan and his retrospective 'Io, Luca Vitone' at PAC Milan are referenced. The project reflects on the historical and existential void left by abdicated power, drawing parallels between Napoleon's exile and contemporary geopolitical dynamics involving the Fondazione, the Ministry of Culture, and figures like Buttafuoco, Bibi, Putin, and Meloni. The journey is described as a transformative experience where time becomes elastic, and the crew of five lives in a state of presence-absence.