Mario Mieli's queer performance resurrected at Drodesera Festival
During the Drodesera Festival in Dro, Italy, the weekend dedicated to the Live Works performance award highlighted a previously unrecognized photographic performance by Mario Mieli (1952-1983), a trailblazing queer activist and the author of 'Elementi di critica omosessuale'. Curated by Barbara Boninsegna, Daniel Blanga Gubbay, and Simone Frangi, the showcase included 'Ebbene sì!', a collection of 72 slides from approximately 1979, depicting Mieli in various nude performative stances. The presentation, organized by poet Franco Buffoni, took place at Centrale Fies. Mieli, a Jewish homosexual communist, was a co-founder of Fuori! and famously boycotted a Catholic psychologists' conference in 1972. Following the split of Fuori! in 1974, he shifted to theater and esoteric writing, ultimately taking his own life in 1983.
Key facts
- Mario Mieli's photographic performance 'Ebbene sì!' was presented at the Drodesera Festival in Dro, Italy, in July 2018.
- The performance consists of 72 slides found at Porta Portese market in Rome, dated around 1979.
- The slides show Mieli in five categories of nude poses: motorcycle, dog, dark lady, blouson noir, and Marilyn-like.
- Franco Buffoni, Francesco Paolo Del Re, and Sabino De Nichilo coordinated the rediscovery and presentation.
- Mieli co-founded Fuori! (Fronte Unitario Omosessuale Rivoluzionario Italiano) and helped boycott a 1972 conference of Catholic psychologists in Sanremo.
- Mieli's father had his novel 'Il risveglio dei Faraoni' contract canceled by Einaudi due to recognizable family characters.
- Mieli died by suicide in 1983 at age 31.
- Andrea Maccarrone is a three-time president of the Mario Mieli Roman Circle of Homosexual Culture.
Entities
Artists
- Mario Mieli
- Franco Buffoni
- Francesco Paolo Del Re
- Sabino De Nichilo
- Barbara Boninsegna
- Daniel Blanga Gubbay
- Simone Frangi
- Andrea Maccarrone
- Susan Sontag
Institutions
- Festival Drodesera
- Live Works Performance Act Award
- Centrale Fies
- Feltrinelli
- Einaudi
- Fuori! (Fronte Unitario Omosessuale Rivoluzionario Italiano)
- Partito Radicale
- Circolo romano di Cultura Omosessuale Mario Mieli
- Rai
- Alfa Romeo
- Brigate Rosse
- Artribune
Locations
- Dro
- Italy
- Milan
- Rome
- Porta Portese
- Sanremo
- London
- Parco Lambro
- Piazza San Pietro
- Parco Sempione
- via Morigi