Virginia Raggi becomes a celerino: Laika's protest of Cinema Palazzo eviction

The story is well known: last Nov. 25, in Rome, police forces cleared the building occupied by the activists of Nuovo Cinema Palazzo, an experience of cultural participation born from below, in the premises of Cinema Palazzo, which, in a state of abandonment, was occupied on April 15, 2011 by citizens, students, artists, activists and associations who reopened the space dedicating it to cultural initiatives aimed primarily at the San Lorenzo neighborhood. For nine years, the Cinema thus created a new social space in the neighborhood. According to reports, the ownership of the building reportedly pushed for the eviction to be carried out, despite the fact that negotiations were underway for a possible acquisition of the building by a public administration (the Municipality of Rome or the Region). Negotiations that will apparently continue, however.

The mayor of Rome, Virginia Raggi, ended up in the eye of the storm for a very clumsy tweet in which she thanked the police for “today’s eviction operations,” since “squatting is not tolerated in Rome” and so therefore “legality returns.” Criticism toward her stance has been oriented on two strands: in the first case, her lack of consistency was held against her, as many recalled how, during the election campaign that would bring her to the Capitol, she had instead praised the activities of the Nuovo Cinema Palazzo. In the second case, she was reproached for equating the Nuovo Cinema Palazzo with Forza Nuova extremists (given that on the same day the eviction was carried out on the party’s headquarters in Via Taranto: the party had in fact been occupying premises owned by Ater, the territorial company for public residential housing, for four years).

Also taking sides against Virginia Raggi was street artist Laika, who intervened with one of her works in Via degli Etruschi, in the heart of San Lorenzo, where she put up a poster depicting Virginia Raggi as a celerino, dressed in riot gear. The work is part of the Make Roma Great Again project, which began with Vittorio Sgarbi’s poster just over a month ago.

“The mayor,” said Laika, “decides to continue her electoral campaign under the banner of the ideology of decorum and legality with the eviction of the Nuovo Cinema Palazzo, one of the most lively places on the Roman cultural scene. This is not the idea of the city that I like.”

Virginia Raggi becomes a celerino: Laika's protest of Cinema Palazzo eviction

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