The long running argument and discussion that have been rumbling on all summer concerning murals (articles here and here) put up during the night just took another step forward but this time nobody should really be all that upset as the probably most people would turn a blind eye to the latest mural to appear in Barga Vecchia.
The dramatic end of a 17-year domination of Italian politics came to an end this evening as Silvio Berlusconi was forced to hide from a jeering crowd in Rome after handing in his resignation at a late-night meeting with President Giorgio Napolitano.
The protesters, including a choir singing the Hallelujah chorus from Handel’s Messiah, rejoiced at his departure.
The 75-year-old billionaire brought down the curtain on a government that has become plagued by scandals and seemed increasingly helpless in the face of the economic storm that has taken this country and the Euro to the brink of catastrophe.
The lower house of parliament approved a package of savage cuts and stimulus measures demanded by the European Union to trim Italy’s massive €1.9 trillion debt. After losing his majority in the house, a weakened Berlusconi had pledged to resign as soon as he had pushed the reform package through parliament. The reforms were passed by 380 votes to 26. Opposition parties did not participate.
Within hours a mural had appeared in Barga Vecchia of a figure (presumably Silvio Berlusconi) with a large red cross blotting out his mouth. This time the mural might well be left alone as it has been painted onto a sheet of plastic and will cause no damage once removed.
The mural itself is obviously not from the same author/artist as the previous murals pasted up in the city during the summer, the technique and handling of paint is from somebody else’s hand but just who that hand is, remains unclear.
The main problem in the past has not been so much the content of the murals – they are not painted directly on to the wall but are on paper but the fact that they were attached to the walls with vinyl glue.
Removing them once they had dried was a fairly long process which left marks on the walls, which in the case of the elementary school in Barga Giardino had only recently been re-plastered and repainted at considerable cost from the public purse.
In September an official press was released from the Mayor of Barga, Marco Bonini making it clear that his administration was aware of the creativity involved in the making of the murals and the need for expression but the glue used in putting up these works was making it difficult to remove them without damaging public walls. At some point if they continued pasting up images, somebody will have to pay for the damage.
He went on to say that they were looking at various possibilities for a space somewhere in the Comune of Barga where this kind of work could be permanently displayed – a mural wall.
no comment !
I love this one!