Persephone Overland: Contemporary Harvest Ritual in Milan

On July 10, 2021, a contemporary performance ritual called Persephone Overland will take place at dawn in the fields of Chiaravalle, a southern district of Milan, to celebrate the spelt harvest. The project is curated by Forme Tentative and Terzo Paesaggio, an organization focused on cultural urban regeneration. It is produced in collaboration with Azienda Agricola Davide Longoni, MadreProject, Phoebe Zeitgeist, Soulfood Forestfarms, and Frange Mobili. The performance features dramaturgy and direction by Giuseppe Isgrò, performative staging by the artistic collective Phoebe Zeitgeist, and music by composer and pianist Roberto Cacciapaglia. The myth of Persephone—daughter of Demeter and Zeus, abducted by Hades to become queen of the underworld—is evoked as a metaphor for the cycle of harvest and rebirth. In the performance, Chiara Verzola plays Demeter and Francesca Frigoli plays Persephone, acting as mediators between life and death. Sound design by Shari DeLorian includes electroacoustic impulses, field recordings, and classical music samples. The spelt fields are cultivated by master baker Davide Longoni. Participation requires registration via Eventbrite, which reveals the exact location.