Star Wigs: The Italian Hand Creates

Invisible hands create precious embroidery and historical wigs, delicate hands that patiently sew Academy Award-winning costumes like those of Marie Antoinette or of the Casanova by Federico Fellini. We speak about the work of the Italian movie professionals’ hands, that contribute to the internationalism of the inimitable Italian cinema from Cinecittà to Hollywood.

Star Wigs: the Italian Hand Creates, that will take place in Washington DC from april 30 to may 6 is a tribute to them. The exhibition has been created and organized by Elisabetta Cantone and Francesca Silvestri and is one of the official events, promoted by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the Year of the Italian Culture in the USA.

The Italian Hand creates and makes the History of Cinema. Thanks to the work of expert craftsmen movies and characters, that won the eyes and the heart of Millions of viewers around the world over the past decades, keep on being memorable through the years. These people are not only craftsmen but also great artists. With their extraordinary talent, far from the spotlights and the red carpet, they represent the excellence of the Movie Jobs.

Inside the huge hall and in the balconies of the Italian Embassy in Washington we can see little sets with costumes, wigs and accessories. All these objects show the importance of “working with the hands” instead of using digital technologies and special effects. The craftsman’s job is often hand down from father to son. Examples of this are the Rocchetti “dynasty”, founded in 1874 by Giuseppe Rocchetti, along with Peruzzi and the more recently founded The One, that assimilated the storehouse and the archive of the historical GP11.

We can admire Kirsten Dunst’s costumes, bustiers, nightgowns and negligees in the movie Marie Antoinette by Sofia Coppola. Thanks to them Milena Canonero won her third Academy Award.

There also is the white dress, that Piero Tosi created for Claudia Cardinale’s character Angelica in Luchino Visconti’s masterpiece The Leopard. It had been produced by the tailor enterprise SAFAS fifty years ago (today it is part of Peruzzi’s private collection) and, although it became a little bit grey because of the time, it preserves its fascination. We can also see Burt Lancaster’s tailcoat, his shirt and his jabot worn in The Leopard, when he plays prince Salina and Rina Morelli’s black evening gown as his wife.

In another set we can admire Fellini’s Casanova, Donald Sutherland, wearing a grey costume made of shining silk (Academy Award for Danilo Donati) and the light blue, beige and black satin costumes of his lovers. And then we can find Jane Fonda’s chainmail outfits in Roger Vadim’s Barbarella and Cleopatra’s purple dresses (of the same color of Elizabeth Taylor’s eyes) inside the balconies.

We can see the wigs and hairdressings by Rocchetti&Rocchetti: Angelica’s chignon decorated with little white roses and Nicole Kidman’s wigs in Moulin Rouge!, along with the hairdos of the dancers in the same movie. They are all displayed on supports that the Students of the Corcoran College of Art and Design of Washington DC created for the occasion. We can admire Anita Ekberg’s blond wig in La Dolce Vita, the huge hairdos made of curls, feathers and little birds of the movie Marie Antoinette and the Cleopatra’s golden bob. There will also be artistic heads: we can admire the 18th century wigs in Fellini’s Casanova and in the more recent one starring Heath Ledger. They will be exhibited on silver and golden faces covered with crystals, created by the italo-persian artist Howtan Re. The same for the reinterpretations of Marie Antoinette, Cleopatra and Fellini’s mechanical doll.

The digital ricollges by Brivido Pop with their ironical titles will represent a unique stage for these sets. These art works put together stars of the past and present and also mix them up with eternal masterpieces like Botticelli’s Venus and Caravaggio’s Sixtine Chapel, which are icons of the Italian art worldwide.

SPECIAL GUEST of the event. There will also be the pictures of the “working hands”, the interviews, the words. We can watch the splendid documentary film HANDMADE CINEMA, which has been produced in Italy by the company Enormous Film, founded by Luchino Visconti di Modrone and directed by Guido Torlonia and Laura Delli Colli.

The film will be presented by Laura Delli Colli, director of the Italian cinema journalists, inside the Auditorium of the Embassy. It will show a journey through the historical cinema craftsmanship in order to tell the experience and the unpublished stories of the cinema craftsmen and their invisible “dynasties”. Although their names are unknown to the public, they are highly important for the history of Italian Cinema. The narrator of this journey through the backstages of Italian cinema will be the voice of Chiara Mastroianni, daughter of the great actor Marcello Mastroianni.

OPENING: cocktail for 300 guests. The Italian Embassador in Washington DC Claudio Bisogniero, the Cultural Responsible Cristiano Maggipinto and many representatives of the world of culture and art will attend the event. VIP dinner at the Café Milano: Franco Nuschese’s trendy restaurant, where senators and governors go often and where two months ago Barack Obama took Michelle for her birthday. Star Wigs: the Italian Hand Creates has been organized under the auspices and with the support of the Italian Embassy in Washington, Camera di Commercio di Roma, Roma Capitale – Assessorato alle Attività Produttive, Regione Lazio and Finmeccanica North America.