Marcello Maloberti: From Codogno to the World, a Prophet of the Province

Italian artist Marcello Maloberti (born 1966 in Codogno) reflects on his career and the COVID-19 pandemic in an interview with Artribune. Maloberti, who has exhibited at MAXXI Rome, Centro Pecci Prato, Manifesta12 Palermo, Quadriennale Rome, Castello di Rimini, GAMeC Bergamo, and Galleria Raffaella Cortese Milan, discusses his strong ties to his hometown of Codogno and Casalpusterlengo, which became infamous as early epicenters of the coronavirus outbreak in Italy. He notes that the pandemic has lent new relevance to his work, which has long celebrated provincial identity and Italianness, often using symbols like the road sign of Casalpusterlengo and the Italian flag. Maloberti recalls his mentor Luciano Fabro and cites influences from Pier Paolo Pasolini, Giorgio De Chirico, Franz Kafka, and Walter Benjamin. He describes his current quarantine in Milan, where he is reading Kafka's diaries, cooking, and exercising. He also mentions a charitable T-shirt project with Paolo Zucchi called #unamagliettapercasale, which raised funds for surgical masks and protective equipment for healthcare workers in Casalpusterlengo and has already sold out. Maloberti asserts that 'all the world is a province' and that art should be prophetic, not religious. He concludes with the phrase 'AMEN – Martellate.'