Antonino Barbaro – A Place Like No Other

The Strait of Messina, with its natural patrimony and millennial history, is a place like no other in the world. Situated between Sicily and mainland Italy, it is a unique stretch of sea that has witnessed the birth and flourishing of many great civilisations throughout the centuries.

As far back as Roman times, the dream of a stable connection over the strait has provided many opportunities to debate its ambitious realisation. Console Lucius Caecilius Metellus was one of the first advocates of a bridge that would allow transportation to Rome of the elephants taken from Asdrubales during the First Punic War. In more recent times, the idea of a cutting-edge technology solution made history for its colossal failure, uncovering corrupt interests, political vanity, and personal greed by many figures of the Italian political class.

A Place Like No Other provides an overview of the events around the bridge’s failure and is developed within four levels: utopian, dystopian, local, and global. Video, 3D rendering, photographic, and archival material has been combined into an installation that introduces the bridge’s story to an international audience. It is a multimedia body of work raising questions of environmental nature, social injustice, and the use of propagandistic discourse as a tool for asserting political power.

Antonino Barbaro is an artist and writer whose documentary-based and experimental work sits at the intersection between media. His production involves photographic images, film, 3D, archival research and text. Antonino holds a BA in Philosophy from the University of Milan and a MA in Photojournalism and Documentary Photography from the London College of Communication. His current interest emphasises the exploration of anthropological and environmental issues. His work often develops into multimedia installations enabling viewers’ interactions at different levels. Some of his latest research focuses on the power and limitation of modern communication technology, its glitch and its deceiving nature in the process of information. He lives and works between London and Milan. Antonino is a member of the editorial staff at PHROOM PLATFORM, where he engages in articles and essays on contemporary photographic work. He also curates live interviews with international artists.