At Last Supper Live! inclusion passes through beauty

«CWhat does Philip want to say to Jesus? And Matthew, and Thomas? Try to move like them, understand what emotions are behind those gestures». The boys move on stage as if in slow motion, to better underline the expressiveness of their arms, legs and faces. Behind them they have a large photo of the Last Supper by Leonardo. Each of them is trying to reinterpret it. Elisabetta Carosio, who gives directions from the stalls, is in charge of the theatrical part of Cenacolo Live!, a participatory and inclusive art project which, after a first part in Dergano, a northern suburb of Milan, is now continuing with a second part in Barona, a southern suburb.

Here we are at Barrio’s, an important youth aggregation center born in 1997 thanks to the commitment of Comunità Nuova onlus and its president don Gino Rigoldi, and to the economic support of the Amici di Edoardo Association. In the theatre, 12 young people from the neighbourhood, aged between 15 and 20, are working on body expression. Later they will move on to the vocal part and finally to the creation of live cinema performance, filmed in real time, which will end up on the Last Supper’s official website ( cenacolovinciano. org ), where the video on the work of the guys from Dergano has already been inserted.

Overall, it’s about the first public work acquired by the Museo del Cenacolo Vinciano, and enriches the offer of information for those approaching Leonardo’s masterpiece. For the kids – most of whom didn’t know the work – it’s much more: it’s a way of approaching the beauty of art, appropriating it and making it contemporary.

The Last Supper leaves the museum

Last dinner with this initiative it leaves the Museum and becomes a tool for improving relationships, starting from itself: «At this age, working on the body means accepting one’s own transformations, feeling freer and more confident even with respect to the judgment of others, which is usually the great fear of teenagers» underlines Carosio. «The workshop is a kind of mindfulness exercise, because the kids must always be present with the mind, without overthinking or distractions. They strengthen and, through the body, approach the interiority. This applies both to individual work, such as what they are doing at the moment, and to choral work, when they get in a circle interpreting something with a gesture, and one behind the other the companions continue the movement of the neighbour, in sequence».

With Last Supper Live! the community becomes active

Last Supper Live! «it was born during the Covid, when we were isolated» explains Laura Riva, project manager of the foundation Connecting Cultures, which carried out the project with the Museo del Cenacolo Vinciano, winning a tender from the Cariplo Foundation. «The idea was to create local cultural opportunities, to bring art to the local area, re-read the masterpiece with contemporary language and bring the new generations closer. In Dergano the work did not end with the video work created: the boys involved then held workshops in a local middle school, Maffucci. Together with the little ones, they are making a short film. And perhaps, given the success, they will repeat in September».

It should be added that the participants organized social dinners at the Nuovo Armenia association, a restored farmhouse in the municipal park of Dergano. In short, the whole community was involved in the re-reading of the Last Supper.

Last Supper Live! it is a work of participatory art, where the work is created together by the artists – in this case the operators of the Film-Live Association – and by the young people. A fruitful collaboration that creates bonds, brings well-being and social inclusion. And it is public art both because it enters public spaces, such as the Barrio’s theater, and because it remains available to the community».

At the Barona – where the workshops started a couple of months ago – each of the boys will give his interpretation of one of the apostles.The 12 on stage right now are a nice multi-ethnic group of boys and girls, most of them already have some experience in the other theater workshops of the Barrio’s. “Some have tired families or experience situations of fragility, others don’t,” explains Gemma Marchegiani, head of theater and cultural activities at the Barrio’s. «They well represent the mix of this neighborhood, the Baronaa huge and dispersive periphery, born to be a dormitory and not a community. We try to intercept needs and respond by compensating for the gap in cultural offerings from the center to the periphery».

Nobody skips rehearsals

The Last Supper Workshop Live! it started with a special visit to the opera: «It was just us with the director of the Museum, Silvia Zanzani» recalls Marchegiani. «The impact was very strong, the boys were all excited. No one had seen her, they didn’t even know her and they wouldn’t have another opportunity like this. To those who hadn’t done catechism, the meaning of the Last Supper. But the beauty was perceived immediately: everything was clear and simple to understand.Taking them there was a winner; art must be seen. Later the boys started the theater workshop and I must say that no one ever missed a rehearsal. Which is quite exceptional considering that they are teenagers.’

Now the guys are on the ground, in a circle. With the body, they must represent colors. How do you interpret red? The first part with a gesture of anger, which remains suspended in the middle. Now it’s his neighbor’s turn, who continues the movement. And the work goes on, «with generosity and sincerity», concludes Elisabetta Carosio.

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