Writer Emanuele Trevi and photographer Giovanna Silva recount, each in their own manner, their journey with artist
Luigi Ontani in Bali at the time of the preparation of the
Ogoh Ogoh carnival procession. With original illustrations by Ontani.
Luigi Ontani is considered one of the greatest living Italian artists. A painter and sculptor, for decades he has worked on the themes of the myth, the mask and the symbol in various forms. One of the most legendary yet least documented aspects of his activity is the work that he carries out in Bali, where he lives for several months each year. In March 2014, the writer Emanuele Trevi and the photographer Giovanna Silva lived with him for a few weeks, thereby witnessing the preparation of an Ogoh Ogoh, a carnival float decorated for the Nyepi, the day of silence. The fate of the Ogoh Ogoh is then to be burnt. The writer intertwines his own reflections on the theme of the myth around this brief parable, taking part in a moment in which history, legend and the contemporary world all blur together, and making this the starting point for his account of events. Instead, using a range of photographic techniques, Silva documents the tale of the Ogoh Ogoh, taking part in a ritual which up until now had been virtually unknown.
Emanuele Trevi (born 1964 in Rome), writer, essayist and literary critic, is one of the most important yet unclassifiable authors on the Italian literary scene. Shortlisted for the Premio Strega 2012, Qualcosa di scritto – along with Il libro della gioia perpetua – is one of the volumes destined to stand out in 21st-century Italian literature. He is also the author of literary reportages on India (L'onda del porto) and reflections on the theme of the journey (Il viaggio iniziatico). He writes for the Corriere della Sera newspaper.
Giovanna Silva (born 1980 in Milan) is an Italian photographer, writer and publisher. Her photographic books have been published by
Mousse, Hatje Cantz, and
Nero among others. Her work has been shown at the 10th and 14th Venice architectural biennales, MACRO in Rome, Fondazione Bevilacqua La Masa in Venice, the Triennale in Milan, the American Academy in Rome, FRAC Orléans, c/o Berlin, the Biennale de Rabat 2019, and the Italian Cultural Institute in New York. She is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of
Humboldt Books and the co-founder of San Rocco magazine. She teaches Photography at NABA Milan, IUAV Venice's master in photography program, and ISIA Urbino.
