Protesters attached posters to the statue that read 'Animals ARE NOT sandwiches' and 'Your TRADITIONS, their SUFFERING' brandished banners with slogans like 'Animals are our brothers'.
ELISABETTA PROVOLEDO: A sculpture of a roasted pig, a new public artwork installation paying tribute to the Italian capital, was removed on Friday after the statue was vandalized with cherry-red paint… The new artworks in eight of central Rome’s public squares are meant to be playful celebrations of the city’s rich culture and history. But some very vocal people do not see the whimsy in a dead pig.
The installations, unveiled last week, include an oversize rendering of Rome’s ubiquitous drinking fountains and a giant wooden doorstop, acclaiming Rome as an open city. And then there is the statue of a boneless roasted pig, a regional delicacy known as porchetta, denounced by outraged animal rights activists as a celebration of cruelty.
On Friday, the statue was removed only hours after it had been vandalized with cherry-red paint, which had been liberally dripped over the pig’s head and back. “Unfortunately, it came to this,” said Amedeo Longo, 24, the artist who created the work. “My heart is heavy.”
The artist looked on forlornly as city workers trussed the two-ton sculpture — titled “From the Sandwich to the Square” — which had been installed exactly a week ago on Piazza San Giovanni della Malva, in the trendy Trastevere neighborhood. It was hoisted by a crane onto a truck and driven to a municipal deposit.
The vandalism follows other protests this week, when shouting demonstrators picketed the work. They attached posters to its pedestal that read “Animals ARE NOT sandwiches” and “Your TRADITIONS, their SUFFERING”; brandished banners with slogans like “Animals are our brothers”; and demanded that the city take the statue away.
“I see nothing artistic in the death of an animal, put on exhibit,” said Rita Corboli, the Rome representative of the Italian branch of the International Organization for Animal Protection. “We absolutely want it to be removed”… As the statue was driven away Friday, one passer-by called out, “Great decision,” which prompted a very lively debate (argument) among those present in the square…
Even porchetta-loving Roman citizens, of whom there are many, gave voice to their inner art critics. Insults swelled the Facebook pages of the municipal ward and that of its president, Sabrina Alfonsi, who removed a photograph of the pig from her page (though the statue now has its own social media presence)… She said the work was being removed so it could be restored. Its fate would be known “in a few days,” she added.
Mr. Longo said he was genuinely surprised by the response. He had just wanted to depict something quintessentially Italian. His sculpture, made of Roman travertine marble, which has been used since ancient times, “was misunderstood,” he said, adding, “No animal was killed to make this sculpture”…
If nothing else, the statue has stimulated public debate, which is what contemporary art should do, said Giulia Urso, the ward councilor who oversaw the project. It has people arguing not only about public art, but also about the need to shift society “toward a more vegetarian and animal rights point of view,” she said…
Emiliano Coletta, an artist and visual arts professor at the university, said that he and Mr. Longo had gone to meet with the animal rights protesters, to have “a civil dialogue”… Mr. Longo said he was happy to have gotten the opportunity to show his work in public and that criticism was part of the game. “There are going to be people who like it and others who don’t,” he said. SOURCE…
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