Salotto 4
WORK IN PROGRESS
by Ruggero Loria
30.11.2025
The Little Voice, or How Pinocchio Can Save Your Life
Ruggero Loria’s fascination with Pinocchio began with an aversion to a story that, in its common interpretations, seems to glorify obedience and discipline as the only path for the wooden puppet to become a “real boy.” Puzzled by the enduring interest that writers and filmmakers have shown in Carlo Collodi’s 19th-century tale, Loria decided to read Pinocchio again — this time, word by word.
His notes soon developed into a book of its own, revealing a hidden layer of meaning that Collodi had to conceal from the educational authorities of his time: an anarchic and tragic story of a puppet who loses himself by surrendering to the rules of society. This analysis has become the first draft of a forthcoming book and screenplay, reimagining Pinocchio as a fable that still speaks to the inner lives of us all.
Ruggero Loria
Film director who lives and works in Berlin. His films span multiple genres, yet his protagonists are always outsiders searching for their place in the world. His passion for literature led him to the novel Pinocchio, that inspired a book of analysis to which he dedicated three years. It marks his first literary work and the beginning of his first film adaptation of a novel.
Salotto’s curator
Work in Progress views the reception of audiences as part of the creative act. Artists present their works in an embryonic state to gather impressions from their future audiences. This series builds on Salotto’s vision of art as a dialogue created in each moment.
Salotto 3
DRAFTING FROM MEMORIES
by Gian Martino Cecere, Friedrich Andreoni, Bence Ungvari
11–13.07.2025
The etymology of drawing—or disegnare in Italian—traces back to the Renaissance, when the term embodied the union of intellect and creative act. It denoted the moment in which thought takes shape, giving form to an individual’s vision.
Although Gian Martino Cecere and Friedrich Andreoni follow distinct artistic paths, both place drawing at the core of their practice. Through the investigation of historical sites and events, they craft contemporary reinterpretations that respond to what has been created before us, weaving the past into the present.
During Salotto, their works are complemented by the performance of Bence Ungvari, who channels not an intellectual memory but a physical one. His act conveys a yearning for a lost place of comfort shared by us all, suggesting what it might mean to reimagine and rebuild such a space today.
These artistic perspectives do more than look back; they open a dialogue with the future, extending the continuity of meaning we seek to create for ourselves.
Salotto 2
THE BODY WITHIN
by Zu Kalinowska, Marta Ant, Elena Bi, Daniel Pantaleo, Takis Basil, Manuel Cornelius, Celia Croft
24–26.01.2025
The body is a vessel — a biological structure that houses our thoughts, emotions, memories, and sense of self.
Through our bodies we communicate with our outside world, creating personal and collective histories, embodying societal expectations and cultural narratives that merge our identities. Within the confines of our living space, we can create a secluded and intimate space for ourselves, where we reflect on our bodily experiences and use them as spaces of exploration.
The Body Within delves into this dynamic relationship, exploring the body as an evolving entity intertwined with its surroundings and an active site of transformation. The exhibition is the second part of the bigger project Salotto, that reimagines the home as a space of envelopment—a cocoon where identity takes shape step by step, merging the personal with the universal in a continuous state of becoming.
Salotto 1
THE NURTURING SIDE
by He Sun, Veranika Khatskevich, Nadia D’Alessio, Elena Bi, Aleksa Bek
03–05.05.2024
Welcome to our home.
Here, we nurture a soil to grow our connection with ourselves and each other. Tending it with sensuality and emotion we keep this space of comfort to allow ourselves to be vulnerable and soft to become flexible and strong. The home is made of rituals, in which we center the mind and body, the past and the present. Every day, we dream.
Through our fantasy we explore the rhythm of nature and observe the repeating conditions that give birth to new states of being to emerge. In our artistic practice, we imitate and mold the organic forms that reflect a common aesthetic across the living world. They are the symbols of our self-expression and the moments in which nature and nurture become an indistinguishable source of life.
