Memorial for the Anti-fascist volunteers from Parma and its province in the Spanish Civil War 1936-1939

Portici del grano, Parma, Italy
2026

Sandblasted Stainless Steel
484 x 152 x 40 cm

The proposal had to be inscribed in a very specific architectural and historical context: the Portici del grano.

The intervention had to adapt to the space delimited by the pre-existing niches. These incisions on the wall delimit a rectangular space 484 cm high and 152 cm wide, finished at the top in a half-point arch.

48 sheets of steel

A whole series of elements are projected into space: 48 sheets of steel of different measures that advance towards the viewer.

Why 48 sheets? The presence of 47 anti-fascist Parma volunteers in the Spanish war is documented. There is also the certainty that a few dozen more volunteers participated in it, but due to historical vicissitudes there are not enough documents to state categorically who and how many they were. That is why a piece of steel has been added in tribute to all the other volunteers, for now, still unknown.

48 sheets of steel of different measures advance towards the future, as if a threshing board

Tribolo (threshing board)

The threshing board is an agricultural tool that was originally used to clean the grain. With the addition of nails, sharp stones or iron pieces, it became a tool to prepare the soil for sowing. Shred, break earthy soils and level the fields before sowing.

The threshing board thus becomes a powerful metaphor: a humble tool, used by the workers of the countryside, by people who use their manual strength and skill to earn their daily bread, becomes a symbol of these volunteer fighters who in an act of radical generosity become sharp pieces of a collective tool to prepare the soil for the sowing of a world more just and free for all.

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AGLI ANTIFASCISTI DI QUESTA TERRA
CHE LONTANO COMBATTERONO VOLONTARI
SEGUENDO GLI IDEALI DI DEMOCRAZIA
E SOLIDARIETA’ INTERNAZIONALE
IN DIFESA DELLA LEGITTIMA REPUBBLICA SPAGNOLA

FURONO GOCCE NEL MARE
VISSERO DELLA STESSA ONDA
E SI INFRANSERO SULLA STESSA RIVA
IN UN FRAGORE CHE ANCORA RISUONA

SPAGNA 1936-1939

OTELLO ALBERTI • AMEDEO AZZI • IVO BARUFFINI • UGO BEATRIZOTTI • MARIO BELLINI • ACHILLE BENECCHI • BRUNO BERNIERI • ALBERTO BONAZZI • GUIDO BOSELLI • BRUNO BUCCI • ARTURO CARCELLI • ANTONIO CIERI • ENZO DONATI • ANTONIO DORINI • ALBERTO FABBI • ALDO GAVARDI • ALFREDO GERBELLA • ODOARDO GHILLANI • LUIGI LAZZARELLI • ITALO LODI • PIO MAGNANI • SCIPIO MARCHESI • PRIMO MARCHIÒ • DANTE MAZZASCHI • VINCENZO MELEGARI • ALBERTO MESCHI • CESARE MINZONI • PRIMO MONTANINI • GIUSEPPE MORINI • MASSIMO MORISI • FORTUNATO NEVICATI • CARLO EGIDE NICOLI • FRANCESCO OLLARI • ADELINO PAINI • LUIGI PEZZIGA • GUIDO PICELLI • ANTONIO REGGIANI • AMEDEO ROMANINI • DOMENICO ROTELLI • MENTORE ROZZI • DANTE SALVINI • ASCENZIO SCATOLA • FRANCESCO SERVINI • RICCARDO SPOTTARELLI • FRANCESCO TIBALDI • MARIO VALLA • PIETRO ZAZZALI

E A CHI IN QUELLA TEMPESTA RIMASE IGNOTO

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A production of: Comune di Parma and Generalitat de Catalunya.

With the collaboration of: Barcelona City Council, Associazione Italiana Combattenti Volontari Antifascisti di Spagna, Associazione Nazionale Partigiani d’Italia, Centre Studi Movimenti di Parma.

Acknowledgments:

Michele Alinovi, Delícia Burset, Alberto Bonora, Pere Casanovas, Fabbros Officina Uriati, Jordi Font, Josep Font, William Gambetta, Lorenzo Lavagetto, Marco Pegazzano, Valentina Pomi.