Tarantism Revisited

Film and research project in collaboration with Michaela Schäuble, University of Bern

Funded by Schweizer Nationalfonds and Academy of Media Arts Cologne

Tarantism is a Southern Italian possession cult in which the afflicted – mostly young, unmarried women – experience violent physical seizures. According to local concepts, this condition is caused by the poisonous bite of a tarantula spider and can only be cured through music and exorcist trance dancing. The film and reseach project ›Tarantism Rivisited‹ traces the multiple facets of a phenomenon that has been endemic to Apulia (Southern Italy) for at least five hundred years yet currently experiences an unprecedented revival and growth in popularity. In the past decade, tarantism and pizzicata music have become a crucial element of local popular culture which not only attracts ten thousands of tourists from Italy and abroad to large-scale festivals each year, but has also become part of the transnational world music scene, thus contributing to the construction of a new, neo-traditional local Apulian identity. Historian of religion and ethnographer Ernesto De Martino (1908-1965) was the first to study the socio-political implications of the phenomenon in his native Italy in the early 1950s. Taking his writings as well as the uniquely rich historic footage -16mm films, hundreds of photographs and sound recordings - that were produced in the scientific and artistic surrounding of his “expeditions” as a starting point, our project explores the strong impact that these iconic images continue to have on the way tarantism is perceived and performed today. To better grasp and convey to a broader audience the complex history and present-day mobilisation of tarantism as a tourist spectacle and politicised site of folklore, cultural heritage and female empowerment, we propose a cossmedia project in collaboration with local performers, musicians and activists that results in three interlinked activities: the realisation of a 60-minute documentary film and complementary 360° videos, both of which formats will culminate in and contribute to an interactive multimedia website comprising historic and contemporary photographs, explanatory texts, short video clips, sound pieces, interview excerpts and samples of tarantella music. We primarily focus on the performance aspects of tarantism, thus highlighting its role as politicised multimedia event along with its importance as cultural and economic resource in the region. Furthermore, we attempt to create awareness for the fact that religious traditions are currently not per se disappearing into insignificance, but, quite to the contrary, are re-discovered, revived, and filled with new meanings in many places. With specific reference to the example of Apulian tarantism, we also intend to foster a better understanding of how tradition, heritage and cultural identity are presently created and mobilised through religious performances.

Essay Film | 4k | 60 min. (in post-production)

360° Video Installation | 20 min. (in production)

Multimedia Website | Online Archive (in production)

www.tarantism-revisited.net