Art After War: Paola and Lorenza Mazzetti
A program spotlighting the resilient legacy of the Mazzetti sisters, for the International Holocaust Remembrance Day.
Magazzino Italian Art, in collaboration with the Centro Primo Levi in New York, presented Art After War, a program spotlighting the resilient legacy of the Mazzetti sisters. Born in Rome in 1927, Paola and Lorenza Mazzetti witnessed the murder of their adoptive family—the Jewish cousins of scientist Albert Einstein— in August 1944, an event that profoundly shaped their artistic journey. Their lives became a testament to resilience and an exploration of trauma through a diverse range of creative expressions encompassing painting, filmmaking, writing, and psychoanalysis.
The event was in commemoration of the Giornata della Memoria—the International Holocaust Remembrance Day—observed every year on January 27th and was part of a joint project with other Italian institutions in N.Y. The program at Magazzino serves as a tribute to the twin sisters’ profound artistic impact. Speakers Alessandro Cassin and Davide Spagnoletto provided insight into the parallel artistic practices of Paola and Lorenza and how art became a means of navigating a society still influenced by the traumatic events of war and persecution.
A key element of the program delves into the concept of the double image, a prominent trope in 20th-century art. Paola and Lorenza’s artworks offer a nuanced perspective on memory, inviting viewers to explore the interplay between sameness and difference, both in their art and in their reflections on memory itself.
The discussion was accompanied by slides featuring the sisters’ paintings, drawings, photographs, excerpts from their films, and video interviews, allowing attendees to immerse themselves in the poetic worlds created by Paola and Lorenza Mazzetti. Additionally, the program featured video and images from the Memoriale della Shoah in Milan, showcasing Eva Krampen Kosloski’s touching photo exhibition. The evocative photographs by Kosloski, daughter of Paola Mazzetti and niece of Lorenza Mazzetti, portray the sisters’ poignant return to their childhood places and subtly captures their methods of transmitting memory.
The program was a thought-provoking journey into the profound artistic legacy of Paola and Lorenza Mazzetti, offering a unique perspective on resilience, memory, and the enduring power of creativity in the face of adversity.
