In Palermo the image of Saint Rosalia traverses time, shifts in meaning and transforms together with the city. Her presence belongs to the religious sphere, but also to the popular, cultural and even the affective one; today it accompanies even more the fight for the emancipation of women in a society seeking to enslave them. In this painting Rosalía enters into dialogue with the Santuzza. In her artistic journey I recognize a form of syncretism that I also find in the history of Palermo: a constant contamination of different languages, cultures and identities. The golden background recalls the mysticism of sacred iconography, while the decoration inspired by the street illuminations of the Feast of Saint Rosalia (the Festino) belongs to the popular devotion that has always defined Palermo. The title of this painting is inspired by the song Focu Ranni. In that line — “mi jittaiu nta lu nenti pi nun pèrdiri a libbirta'” (“I threw myself into nothingness not to lose my freedom”) — I sense a tension which belongs to both the artistic research of Rosalía and the figure of Saint Rosalia: the idea of a passage, of a necessary transformation to continue nurturing one’s own freedom.

Photos by vedipalermo

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