Testaccio 2015
These photographs were made in Rome’s Testaccio neighbourhood. The
area revolves around the former slaughterhouse for the entire city, which
closed in 1975 and is regarded as one of the key pieces of Roman
industrial architecture.
In 1991 the former slaughterhouse became the venue for the
“Muccassassina” (cow killer) nights, which became one of Italy’s major
LGBT parties. The first of these took place in the halls of the former
slaughterhouse, which gave the event its name. But unlike similar areas
in other cities, such as the Marais in Paris, these initiatives did not lead to
genuine and stable development for the district, and they remained
nothing more than a temporary fixture of Roman nightlife.
When I return to my country, I often have the feeling of stepping back in
time. These photographs were all taken in 2015, but when I look at these
pictures, I sometimes have the impression of looking back decades into
the past. With this series, I wanted to focus on the immobility that has
gripped Testaccio for so long – an area frozen in a permanent state of
becoming.
