Massa, Venetian's exhibition with gay Christ blasts culture alderman. Mayor: "He offended Catholics."

The controversial exhibition Storytelling, the solo show of Giuseppe Veneziano (Mazzarino, 1971) held at the Palazzo Ducale in Massa from Feb. 2 to 24, has caused upheaval in the city council: mayor Francesco Persiani (League) has in fact revoked the delegation of authority to the councilor for culture, Eleonora Lama (and, at the same time and for other reasons, deputy mayor Guido Mottini was also removed from his post). Weighed on Eleonora Lama’s position, at least according to the mayor’s words, was precisely the Giuseppe Veneziano exhibition, which sparked numerous controversies in the city and drew the ire of Catholics.

“On culture,” the first citizen explained, “I had to deal with a fearful gaffe over that painting that offended the local Catholic community and beyond. In addition, I would have expected more sharing on the new summer calendar, which I believe should be better than in past years but on which I have not had adequate reassurances from the alderman for culture.” Eleonora Lama, born in 1984, a lawyer by profession, in addition to the delegation for culture also had those for sports, art, twinning, decorum and equal opportunities. On the other hand, Deputy Mayor Mottini, class of 1982, a trade unionist by profession, had the delegations for tourism, productive activities, labor, security, urban police, and program implementation control.

It must be said, however, that the exhibition was a success, and after leaving Massa it arrived, under the title Fantasy, in Palermo, where it can be visited in the halls of Palazzo Riso until May 5. And indeed many doubts were expressed about the mayor’s position. City Councilwoman Elena Mosti, on her social profile, declares that “something doesn’t add up”: “an exhibition such as this, which the mayor publicly defended, offends the sensibilities of Christians and the citizenry (so it is not culture), and a monolith with a poem by a fascist mayor in favor of racial laws that injures the souls of the children of partisans and victims of fascism is ’just culture’? No to the monument to Ubaldo Bellugi.” Mosti’s reference is to another affair involving the Municipality of Massa in the area of culture: the junta has in fact launched the idea of dedicating a monument to Ubaldo Bellugi, poet but also fascist podestà of Massa from 1926 to 1942. A proposal that caused much consternation.

In the photo: a room of Giuseppe Veneziano’s Storytelling exhibition, the one with the “gay Christ” of controversy.

Massa, Venetian's exhibition with gay Christ blasts culture alderman. Mayor: "He offended Catholics."

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