In my last days in Italy, I was amidst an interesting crossroads of history and art. The last city I performed in was Desenzano, a city that edges Garda, Italy’s largest lake in the region of Lombardi. It is written that in the first century this was a favorite vacation spot for the gentry of Verona. It is easy to see why the area would have been so attractive.
Two millennia later there is still a small lovely and welcoming city that is home to the Desenzano Roman Villa that dates back to the end of the Roman era, 1-4 C.E.
Raffaella and I walked to the ancient Villa Romana the next day after choosing poems and a set order for the evening performance at Desenzano del Garda, with Sergio and Raffaella and one of the leading staff of that institution, Carla Veramessa.
There a luxurious villa showed some of the incredible artistry and technology that the Roman Empire had achieved. Among the treasures inside the small archaeological museum that provided and entrance to the archaeological site were pots and tiles and, for me, one of the most intriguing artifacts was a piece of etched glass with an image of Christ.
Yet one had to question who had laid, if not also designed, these intricate mosaics. How many of the workers were enslaved?
Who paid the price for there to be such a sumptuous place that was replete with a central heating system and access to hot water and was remodeled and updated on a regular basis? One would be foolish to deny the beauty unearthed in these ancient ruins, but also shortsighted to not consider how this opulence was obtained and sustained.
One thing these architectural digs often remind me of is the fact that history can be hidden, history can be distorted, but in the end, it arises again and again.
A week earlier, while in southern Italy my hosts took me to Pasteum, a city established by exiled Greeks around 2500 B.C.E. Two hundred years later the Romans came and destroyed the city leaving intact the major temples now named in homage to Neptune, Hera, and Artemis. Yet when the site was found and began to be unearthed, a project that is still ongoing, its full history was revealed. The Greeks, the interaction with the Etruscans, and the Romans all emerged from the ruins.
A thoughtful contrast was a modern sculpture of a horse with protective coverings placed around its eyes to indicate it would have been used in battles, battles that are an integral part of the establishment and endurance of empire.
In Desenzano I performed underneath a clouded and star sprinkled sky to a receptive audience.
I was most pleased that LisaMarieSimmons, talented singer, songwriter, and poet came to see and meet me.
I encourage you to visit her site. (There will be more on her and her talents in a blog post later this year.) After more than two decades in Italy she was fluent in Italian and a known talent in Europe. It is interesting how African American artists can so often be embraced and supported more in other countries than at home. She also was and is a part of the growing Afro-Italian population of Italy. One of the consequences of empire now, and in many ways then, is the mixing and reorganizing of culture.
Following the performance, there was a late dinner in one of the city’s piazzas. At the center of one of the squares was an agitprop performance. Two young adults stood back-to-back wearing masks reminiscent of those in the movie “V for Vendetta” and holding television monitors. A sign proclaimed that they were showing the truth. The film that was running showed the cruelty to animals, chicks, sheep, that were produced for human consumption. There was also a sculpture memorializing those who resisted fascism of the 20th century. Art, history, empire, and protest all around.
It was a fitting place to end my incredible Italian adventure. Raffaella and Sergio set off for Slovenia where they went to honor poet Josip Osti: “L’amore mi ha fatto poeta / Ljubezen me je naredila pesnika”. (“Love made me a poet”) while I was driven to Milan to be flown home to Oakland whose ancient history can only be found by listening to the stories of the indigenous people and honoring their sacred sites. History is revealed in monuments built and maintained by the politically powerful, but it is also sustained by the story tellers, griots, and rituals of those who honor and hold onto the memories and ways of their ancestors.
History returns”again and again”, indeed. Thanks for sharing this experience Devorah. And I am reminded how shocked my African students were to learn the Etruscans were black 🙂
When a more truthful view of history is told, inclusive and complete it will be a real shift in understanding.
Love this Devorah. Did you speak only in English? Do you know some Italian? Did you feel understood most of the time? Respect and wishing you peace and prosperity.
Thank you, Martha. I speak a bit of Italian and understand a bit and can a read just a little more. My poems were translated and projected on a screen, and I presented in English. I was definitely understood as people would come up to me and comment on specific poems.
As a historian of women’s boxing, about as obscure as one can get, I am particularly taken with your notion of how history “can be hidden, history can be distorted, but in the end, it arises again and again.” Whatever the intentionality is behind how history is brought down to us, the artifacts remain, as do the traces of actual lived experience even when seemingly erased from consciousness. Thank you for the reminder.
How far back does women’s boxing go?
I would like to share your thoughtful travelogue/essay with Gina Sconza, a poet and language teacher (Spanish/Italian) living in Oakland and a frequent visitor to her homeland in Italy — her daughter and my son have been friends for many years, and the means by which Gina and I met and have taken many a lovely walk in the Redwoods behind their home. looking forward to seeing you back home, and hearing your stories, thank you.
Please do!
Thank you for focus on empire, Carolyn
Empire wearing different robes is still an issue today.