Museo delle Mura, Rome

2025

Presence Before Naming

In this activation, authorship was not removed.

It was delayed.

The encounter came first.

Sound, gesture, movement, and image entered the space before identification.

Viewers responded to what was happening, not to who was performing.

For a brief moment, the need to name, locate, and categorize was suspended.

Recognition did not disappear.

It shifted.

From immediate response

to later reflection.

Presence came before the file.

Threshold

This was not a stage.

It was a threshold.

A space without fixed roles.

Without clear beginnings or endings.

Without stable positions.

The body adjusted.

The mind recalibrated.

Where to stand.

When to act.

When to wait.

Discomfort became information.

Hesitation became observation.

Gradually, new rhythms formed—

not imposed, but discovered.

Adaptation

Each artist moved differently.

Some entered quickly,

working with instability.

Others moved more slowly,

reconfiguring their practice from within.

Neither was more correct.

Both were forms of attention.

Stateless Mind does not resolve difference.

It reveals it.

Time and Recognition

This activation also unfolded through time.

Presence came before documentation.

As in many experiences of displacement,

one exists before one is recognized.

Authorship was not denied.

It was relocated.

From the moment of encounter

to the space of the archive.

Not hidden—

but delayed.

Special Thanks

With gratitude to the artists whose presence shaped this activation:

Grace Xu (USA) — flute

Dario Paini (Italy) — saxophone

Fadly Sabran (Malaysia) — augmented reality

Dalida María Benfield & Chris Bratton — video work

Across distances and without institutional framing,

your presence gave form to the Pavilion.

Grace Xu (USA) — flute

Fadly Sabran (Malaysia) — augmented reality

Nothing was fixed.

Something remained.

Dario Paini (Italy) — saxophone

Dalida María Benfield & Chris Bratton — Five excerpts-video work