BUON COMPLENARDO — Gelitin/Gelatin
EPISODE 3 — SEASON IV
On Tuesday, April 15, 2025, FOROF hosted Buon Complenardo, a new performance by the Viennese collective Gelitin/Gelatin on the 573rd birthday of Leonardo da Vinci. The event playfully celebrated the imagined “return” of the Mona Lisa to Italy, merging art, music and conviviality.
Suggested photo: opening scene of the performance with artists and audience.
An extraordinary birthday
The performance was part of the Public Program of Nimbus Limbus Omnibus, curated by Bartolomeo Pietromarchi, turning FOROF into a space of celebration and collective reflection. Gelitin/Gelatin presented their iconic series dedicated to the Mona Lisa, first shown in 2008 at the Musée d’Art Moderne de Paris, made of plasticine—a playful, malleable material that questions the concept of cultural icons and their power in collective memory.
Suggested photo: detail of the plasticine Mona Lisa series.
Icons, myths and creative freedom
Through play and parody, Gelitin/Gelatin demystified the aura of Leonardo’s masterpiece, bringing it into an ironic, participatory dimension. The audience was immersed in an experience that wove together art history and contemporary freedom of expression, in tune with the season’s central theme: liberation.
Suggested photo: artists and audience interacting during the performance.
Between past and present
Buon Complenardo echoes the central theme of Nimbus Limbus Omnibus—the Roman ritual of manumissio, the act of liberating slaves, which took place in the Basilica Ulpia. With irony and lightness, the artists reinterpreted this symbolic gesture through their distinctive poetic language.
Suggested photo: performance detail in the hypogeum.
An archaeology in progress
Like every episode, this performance left new traces within the exhibition project, enriching its symbolic and material stratification. FOROF confirms itself as a space where past and present continuously intertwine through experimentation.
Suggested photo: general view of the hall after the performance.
A closing toast
As in every episode, Buon Complenardo ended with a convivial experience curated by RIMESSA Roscioli, extending the celebration into a shared moment between audience and artists.
Suggested photo: final convivial moment in the foyer.