Share this article Share
Curator and writer Sonia D’Alto presents her book Reclaiming Mythological Rituals, which is dedicated to the Italian feminist and pacifist artist group Le Nemesiache. The collective was founded in 1970 by the philosopher, writer, and multidisciplinary artist Lina Mangiacapre and was primarily active in Naples and the Amalfi Coast area. It promoted experimental artistic practices and a feminist worldview inspired by mythology, folktales, science fiction, and radical imagination.
The bilingual monograph (Italian and English) is the result of D’Alto’s extensive research on the archive of the collective, as well as Mangiacapre’s personal archive. It brings together previously unpublished documents, photographs, and posters, alongside new essays that revisit the collective’s history and political activism.
For this event at argos, D’Alto has selected three experimental Super 8 films made by the collective during the late 1970s.
Il Mare ci ha chiamate (Summoned by the Sea, 1978)
IT, 18 min
(no dialogue, no subtitles)
Several members of the collective are dressed up and descend toward Gaiola Island. The spontaneous procession expresses solidarity with the land, the sea, and with other feminist groups and embodies an ancestral and mythological presence. The short film documents a performative poetry intervention created by Le Nemesiache in June 1978, and denounces the suffering of the earth, shaken by the agony of a sea polluted and scarred by human action.
Autocoscienza (Consciousness-raising, 1976)
IT, 15 min
(no dialogue)
Shot without editing, Autocoscienza captures psycho – fabulous dances and gestures in various places symbolic to the Nemesiache’s experience: the ancient temple of Paestum during a 1976 feminist gathering organised by the collective, the interiors of Lina’s home in Posillipo and the fumaroles of the Phlegraean Fields on Mount Vesuvius.
Follia come poesia (Madness as Poetry, 1977-79)
IT, 35 min
(Italian, English subtitles)
Follia come poesia is a participatory film : the institutionalised women and Le Nemesiache express themselves through costumes in the yard of the Frullone Asylum, a psychiatric institution on the outskirts of Naples. The women collaboratively explore music, movement, and clothing, rejecting the stigmas of both incarceration and ‘madness’.
Practical information
Pricing (includes a bowl of soup)
€5 - €10 - €15 depending on your financial capacity.
Seats are limited, so come early; spots and soup are handed out on a first-come, first-served basis. The bar and ticket office open at 18:00. The screenings start at 18:30.
About the book
The publication is edited and co-written by Sonia D’Alto, with new contributions by Chiara Bottici, Federica Bueti, Cairo Clarke, Arnisa Zeqo, Giulia Damiani, Giusi Palomba, Elvira Vannini, and Giovanna Zapperi. Edited by Mousse Publishing and produced in collaboration with Marea Art Project and with the support of the Italian Council (13th edition), promoted by Directorate-General for Contemporary Creativity of the Ministry of Culture.
You can get your copy at the event or at rile*books.
20/20 Vision is our monthly micro-cinema night at argos: a shifting line-up of moving images and video works, from shorts to features, from the archive and beyond. With only 20 chairs for 20 spectators, we gather around for a programme shaped around a topic or a filmmaker. In the first half of 2026, 20/20 Vision unfolds alongside our exhibition Becoming Ancestors, with each edition approaching ancestrality from a different angle. We open the bar, ladle out hot soup, and invite you to sink into a collective viewing experience. Sometimes beautiful, sometimes provocative, always a little unexpected. The programme is designed to spark conversations or maybe even disagreements.