Tarantate

Tarantate

“Tarantate” is a research investigating who are the so-called contemporary tarantate, people, mostly women, who in their own way still metaphorically identify with the historical figure of the victims of tarantism. The social-anthropological phenomenon can be summarized in rituals dictated by music and dance with the purpose of healing the psycho-physical state of the tarantati/e. The outburst is attributed until the 1960s to a spider bite, later found to be caused by states of social and patriarchal repression. The research converges into a sound installation, including interviews collected after a 2400-km journey undertaken in Salento, southern part of the Puglia region, in the spring of 2023. The purpose is to highlight issues such as the Women’s Issue in Salento, or political issues such as the Southern Question, ultimately challenging prevailing social norms. “Tarantate” encourages dialogue and listening to the storytelling voices of Chiara Rosafio, Vera di Lecce, Ada Metafune, Gilberto Genco, Cristina Mastria, Enza Pagliara, Anna Lucia Rizzello and Rita Imperato, and their tales of distant stories. By creating a bridge between a now extinct phenomenon and themes that are still relevant today, the work aims to ignite a dialogue on the need to break free from patriarchal boundaries and highlights the presence of the unfair social discrepancy between Northern and Southern Italy. The circular auditory experience

connects individual narratives, yet embraces the power of common expression; it thus becomes a thread that weaves together a collective tapestry of resilience, and communal healing from a past but still recurring trauma.