M.E.M.O.R.I.: A Participatory Museum of Discarded Objects Across the Mediterranean

The M.E.M.O.R.I. (Museo Euro Mediterraneo dell’Oggetto RI-fiutato) project, conceived by the cooperative Il Salone dei Rifiutati, is an interactive, participatory museum that transforms discarded objects into art and memory. It followed two itineraries: one along Mediterranean port cities (Genoa, Málaga, Marseille, Tétouan, Tunis) and another through Basilicata towns (Bernalda, Matera, Muro Lucano, Potenza, Venosa). Citizens contributed by filling Memori Boxes, fostering community bonds. Curator Maria Rosa Sossai describes a compulsive replacement of objects with new technology, erasing manual culture. Five artists from the port cities—Mohamed Larbi Rahhali (Tétouan), Carlos Aires (Málaga), Mohamed Bourouissa (Marseille), Farah Khelil (Tunis), and Cesare Viel (Genoa)—contributed interviews on materiality, reuse, and the invasive presence of tech objects. The project culminated in an exhibition at the Chiesa Rupestre di Santa Maria de Armenis in Sasso Caveoso, Matera, running until July 7, 2019. Sossai emphasizes that art is the most effective means to reconnect with collective creativity through object-memories.