UCCI UCCI
Salvatore Crucitti e Gloria Zeppilli
The artistic research of the duo UCCI UCCI, composed of Salvatore Crucitti and Gloria Zeppilli, combines studies and practices in anthropology, ethnography, and archival work.
The artistic duo UCCI UCCI was founded with the goal of developing artistic research through an ethnographic approach. Sociological analysis and aesthetic exploration are essential tools for the creation of their language. Their works arise from immersion in a specific territory, activated in its anthropological and environmental dimensions.
The work is not decontextualized or detached from the environment in which it exists but captures its emergent phenomena.
Languages, stories, traditions, rituals, and landscapes of communities constitute the layers of their works, conceived as "hypertextual objects." Through a relational practice and the activation of anthropic landscapes, aesthetics and ethnographic research engage in dialogue.
This dialogue aims to evoke unexpected theoretical and aesthetic short circuits that emerge from artistic practice, enabling a dimension where reflection is both poetic and political. Their work addresses cultural and social issues through an interdisciplinary and relational artistic practice, with the intention of evoking territories, subcultures, and hidden or endangered cultures.
Artistic research is expressed through performative and visual works.
BIO
In 2025, on the occasion of Nova Gorica–Gorizia being named the European Capital of Culture, the duo presents the work "Okužba. Poročilo o kugi / Fu un contagio. Relazione sulla peste" at Kromberk Castle, as part of the Realtà Aumentate project by 47_04 in collaboration with the Goriški Musej, within the GO! 2025 program. In the same year, they present "HÒS" at the Festival dei Due Mondi in Spoleto and take part in the artist residency Seminaria 2025.
In 2024, the duo became finalists at the Biennale College Teatro 2024 (La Biennale di Venezia) with the performance "HÒS." They won Mittelyoung 2024 (Mittelfest) with Twisted World, recognized for its focus on "current events, risk, innovation, and complexity of construction." They produced the film Crossing the Dragon with the support of the European platform Magic Carpets EU and Latitudo Art Projects. They also founded the scientific journal IMPURE: Journal of Art and Anthropology, which brings together international artists, researchers, and anthropologists. Additionally, they are researchers at the Societas Raffaello Sanzio Historical Archive.
In 2023, the duo presented the solo exhibitions “Artificial Hells” at Quartier Am Hafen and “Sedimenti” at the Italian Cultural Institute in Cologne, Germany. They conducted research between Art and Anthropology at the International Performance Art Archive Black Kit in Cologne. They created the work “Canto III” with the support of the LAB EUROPE artist residency at the Hase 29 Gallery in Osnabrück, Germany.
In 2022, the duo won the ArtèEuropa award, granted by the European Parliament, the Ragnarock association, and the Academy of Fine Arts in Rome. In the same year, they received a special mention at the “Premio Scenario Infanzia.”
In 2021, the duo participated in and won the award for Best Performance at the 64th Festival dei Due Mondi in Spoleto, as part of the European Young Theatre.
Gloria Zeppilli, (1998) graduated in "Sculpture" and "Sculpture and Applied New Technologies" from the Academy of Fine Arts in Rome, with theses entitled Beyond Dominance. The Act of Creation as Subversive to the Dominant System and Notes and Attempts for a Hypertextual Work, written with advisor Paolo Canevari. Since 2020, she has collaborated with Salvatore Crucitti, founding the artistic research duo UCCI UCCI and the scientific journal IMPURE, together with Salvatore Crucitti and anthropologist Francesco Marano.
Salvatore Crucitti, (1998) studied "Theories and Techniques of Audiovisuals" at the Academy of Fine Arts in Rome, and graduated in 2022 in "Directing" from the National Academy of Dramatic Arts "Silvio d'Amico." He won the "European Young Theatre" award in 2021 for Best Show (Festival dei Due Mondi Spoleto). The show “Ninnoli” received a special mention from the jury at the Premio Scenario Infanzia 2022. Since 2020, they have been collaborating with Gloria Zeppilli, founding the artistic research duo UCCI UCCI.