The songs of the Memory Echo in Bergamo. Sonia Boyce

From May 17th to September 22nd, 2024, Sonia Boyce, winner of the Golden Lion at the 2022 Venice Biennale, will be exhibiting at the Palazzo della Ragione in Bergamo with a video installation exploring Bergamo's folk songs.

Sonia Boyce, Feeling Her Way, 2022-2023 Installation view. Turner Contemporary, Margate, UK, 2023. Courtesy the artist and Turner Contemporary. Ph. Reece Straw © Sonia Boyce, by SIAE 2024

Sonia Boyce, Feeling Her Way, 2022-2023 Installation view, Turner Contemporary, Margate, UK, 2023. Courtesy the artist and Turner Contemporary. Ph. Reece Straw © Sonia Boyce, by SIAE 2024

Sonia Boyce, Feeling Her Way, 2022-2023 Installation view. Turner Contemporary, Margate, UK, 2023. Courtesy the artist and Turner Contemporary. Ph. Reece Straw © Sonia Boyce, by SIAE 2024

Sonia Boyce, Feeling Her Way (detail), 2022-2023 Installation view. Turner Contemporary, Margate, UK, 2023. Courtesy the artist and Turner Contemporary. Ph. Reece Straw © Sonia Boyce, by SIAE 2024

Sonia Boyce, Feeling Her Way, 2022-2023 Installation view. Turner Contemporary, Margate, UK, 2023. Courtesy the artist and Turner Contemporary. Ph. Reece Straw © Sonia Boyce, by SIAE 2024

Sonia Boyce, For You, Only You, 2007 Three-channel colour video with 5:1 surround sound 8’18”. Manchester Art Gallery, UK, 2018. Ph. Mike Pollard © Sonia Boyce, by SIAE 2024

Sonia Boyce, We move in her way, 2017 Seven synchronised videos with sound and wallpaper installation. Institute of Contemporary Arts, London, 2017. Ph. Mark Blower © Sonia Boyce, by SIAE 2024

Sonia Boyce, Crop Over, 2007 Two-channel colour video installation with sound and wallpaper. Installation view ‘The Disorderly’, A Palazzo Gallery, 2022. Ph. Melania Dalle Grave / DSL Studio © Sonia Boyce, by SIAE 2024

Sonia Boyce, Devotional Wallpaper and Placards, 2008-2022 Installation view ‘Sonia Boyce,’ Manchester Art Gallery, Manchester, UK, 2018. Courtesy the artist and Manchester Art Gallery, Manchester. Ph. Mike Pollard © Sonia Boyce, by SIAE 2024

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Valentina Petrucci
09 May 2024

GAMeC (Galleria d'Arte Moderna e Contemporanea of Bergamo) presents yet another astounding “off-site” exhibition, this time hosted in the prestigious Sala della Capriate at the Palazzo della Ragione, in the Upper city. The leading name in the 2024 edition is that of Sonia Boyce, an English artist and winner of the Golden Lion at the 2022 Venice International Art Exhibition, who has created an environmental work of powerful emotional impact specifically for this unique exhibition space. The work by Boyce, which dialogues with the Bergamo territory and its deep-rooted traditions, focuses on popular song, in particular that of the “Alpini” mountain infantry and the resistance. With the collaboration of students from the Gaetano Donizetti Musical High School, the artist has created a dedicated video installation that invites visitors to reflect on collective memory and on the power of the voice as an instrument for resistance and hope.

Sonia Boyce. Feeling Her Way, 2022-2023. Installation view, Turner Contemporary, Margate, UK, 2023. Courtesy the artist and Turner Contemporary. Ph. Reece Straw © Sonia Boyce, by SIAE 2024

The installation, which is enveloping and fascinating, is comprised of a series of projections that show the faces of everyday people as they sing songs from Bergamasque tradition. Their voices, full of emotion and authenticity, are interwoven with images of mountain landscapes and scenes of daily life, creating an atmosphere of profound reflection. Boyce, a master in combining diverse artistic languages, uses video, photography and sound to explore extremely topical themes, such as the loss of identity, the fragmentation of memory and the role of art in building community. Her work is an invitation to rediscover the value of popular song as an expression of shared principles and a testament to a past that remains vivid in the present. The exhibition will be open to the public from 17 May to 22 September 2024 at the Palazzo della Ragione, Piazza Vecchia - Upper Bergamo.

Opening image: Sonia Boyce. Feeling Her Way, 2022-2023. Installation view, Turner Contemporary, Margate, UK, 2023. Courtesy the artist and Turner Contemporary. Ph. Reece Straw © Sonia Boyce, by SIAE 2024

Sonia Boyce, Feeling Her Way, 2022-2023