kabarè 8/10
(la voz, el espectro)

”The World’s Last Novel “ by Henri Chopin. Books, words and sounds to remember a pioneer of sound poetry.
curated by Domenico Mennillo in collaboration with Fondazione Morra

The eighth event is divided between historical narrative and listening of sound poetry by Henri Chopin, made during the long collaboration with the Fondazione Morra in Naples.

The reconstruction of the collaboration between the patron Giuseppe Morra and the brilliant sonic experimenter, Henri Chopin - today a reference point of the most advanced electronic music - is entrusted to Domenico Mennillo, artist and scientific director of Casa Morra Archives of Contemporary Art, and an in-depth study by Renato Grieco, composer, musician and co-curator of the rarely heard music festival La Digestion.

In the 1980s Morra focuses his attention on the phenomenon of international visual poetry, collaborates with many authors, among them Henri Chopin, and together they publish six volumes, as well organize exhibitions and performances during a 30-year-long collaboration.

At Kabaré 8/10 the 6 original publications will be present and available for consultation, as well as listening to the sound works. Among these publications is one of the most important titles of the international neo-avant-garde art movements, namely Le dernier roman du monde (The Last Novel of the World), first published in 1961 and re-printed by Morra in 1991.

Domenico Mennillo narrates, through the six precious volumes, Chopin’s practice based on the dismantling of classical narrative codes and the creation of a body-writing akin to his sound poetry performances. A disruptive work on writing, Chopin allowed himself to put into the pages his typographic poems, the “dactyl-poems,” of an absolute originality and historical innovation, even compared to the coeval authors of Concrete Poetry.

Domenico Mennillo and Renato Grieco on Henri Chopin

photo and audio: Juan Pablo Macías