Lucrezia Longobardi on Performative Curating and the Premio Testori

Lucrezia Longobardi (Naples, 1991) defines her practice as performative curating, blending theoretical writing with exhibition dramaturgy. She won the fourth edition of the Premio Testori for her essay "Lo spazio esistenziale. Definizione #3" (Schena, 2025), which presents a yet-unrealized exhibition project. In an interview, she discusses her previous book "Lo spazio esistenziale. Definizioni e corollari" (Iemme, 2021), which documented three exhibitions: Definizione #1 in her Naples apartment, where she selected works from personal experience; Definizione #2, where she slept during the opening as an act of withdrawal; and Notturno con figura at the Galleria Nazionale, exploring vibration as a relational quality. Longobardi cites influences from Achille Bonito Oliva's concept of "expository writing" and Tadeusz Kantor's Theatre of Death. She describes her curatorial approach as a "scambio degli archivi personali" (exchange of personal archives) between curator and artist. Definizione #3 addresses contemporary memory and social space, with a planned location in Naples. The essay was nearly submitted as a theatrical text due to its performative charge. Longobardi also contributes to Artribune's newsletters Incanti (art market), Render (urban regeneration), and PAX (cultural tourism).