On 1 November, the Eleutheria Foundation, at the presence of the Italian Ambassador to the Czech Republic, Aldo Amati, presented the world premiere of the performance “Iron Dust: Reflections by Italian Photographer Danilo De Rossi” at the evocative Pražská křižovatka, or St. Anne’s Church in Prague.
De Rossi’s multimedia installation, an exclusive visual art performance split into a video “triptych”, proposes to be an initiation journey into the decommissioned Poldi Steel plant in Kladno. Audio-visual and narrative elements merge to create an “immersive” space and contemplative and ritual itinerary along which visitors will be invited to question themselves on issues such as memory, time and life and the connections associated with it. “To walk through the silent ruins of the old steel plants in Kladno is like visiting an archaeological site that, only a few decades ago, was part of an abnormal life,” said De Rossi. He continued: “The remaining buildings offer a symbolic interpretation of the landscape: on the one hand, large hangars in endless plains remind us of Man’s lust for power; on the other hand, extremely tall pylons and smokestacks quickly change the morphology of the landscape and become instruments to connect with the supernatural and the divine.”
