The artistic research of the UCCI UCCI duo of Salvatore Crucitti and Gloria Zeppilli is based on an anthropological-ethnographic approach. Ethnographic methodologies, sociological analysis and aesthetic research are the essential tools for the creation of language.
Languages, stories, traditions, rituals and landscapes of the communities and territories examined constitute the stratification of works conceived as 'hypertextual objects'.
Through a relational practice, aesthetics and ethnographic research enter into dialogue, with the aim of evoking unexpected theoretical and aesthetic short-circuits that emerge from artistic practice. Enabling a dimension where the result is as poetic as it is political.
The projects address cultural and social issues through a multidisciplinary and relational artistic practice, with the intention of evoking territories, subcultures and cultures that are hidden or close to extinction. The artistic research is elaborated in film, theatre and visual works.
BIO
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. In 2022, Gloria Zeppilli won the ArtèEuropa Prize at the European Parliament, collaborating with the association Ragnarock and the Academy of Fine Arts in Rome. In the same year, Salvatore Crucitti's direction of "Ninnoli" received a special mention at the "Premio Scenario Infanzia 2022". In 2023, UCCI UCCI conducted their research at the intersection of Art and Anthropology during their residency at the international performance art archive Black Kit in Cologne. Their performance "III Canto" was hosted in the European project: LAB EUROPE in Osnabrück, Germany. They presented the solo exhibition "Artificial Hells" at the Quartier am Hafen in Cologne. They were invited for a screening of the "Sedimenti" project at the Italian Cultural Institute in Cologne. In 2024, they worked and studied at the Historical Archive of Societas Raffaello Sanzio in Cesena. In the same year, they were finalists at the Biennale College Teatro 2024. They are resident artists in the Magic Carpets project by Latitudo Art Projects. They founded the scientific journal IMPURE Journal of Art and Anthropology composed of international artists and anthropologists.
Gloria Zeppilli, born in 1998, graduated in "Sculpture" and "Sculpture and New Applied Technologies" at the Academy of Fine Arts in Rome, with the theses "Beyond Dominion: The act of creation as subversive to the dominant system" and "Notes and attempts for a hypertextual work" written with supervisor Paolo Canevari. Since 2020, she has collaborated with Salvatore Crucitti, co-founding the artistic research duo "UCCI UCCI".
Salvatore Crucitti, born in 1998, studied "Theories and techniques of audiovisuals" at the Academy of Fine Arts in Rome, and later graduated in "Directing" from the National Academy of Dramatic Art "Silvio d'Amico" in 2022. Winner of the "European Young Theatre" award in 2021 for best performance (Festival dei due mondi Spoleto). One of his recent theater projects (Ninnoli) received a special mention from the jury at the Premio Scenario Infanzia 2022. Since 2020, he has collaborated with Gloria Zeppilli, co-founding the artistic research duo "UCCI UCCI".