- Boggiano Heirs is a unique exploration of one merchant’s legacy on the descendants of his slaves – and more broadly, an interrogation of Italy’s pro-slavery past
- The book is part of the second of Futile Cycles, a series of hybrid works in which the author discovers affinities and distances between historical and artistic research
- The project is supported by the Italian Council programme to promote Italian contemporary art in the world
Boggiano Heirs is the new book by artist Cristiano Berti, distributed in the UK from 24th May.
At the centre of Berti’s investigation is the figure of Antonio Boggiano, a wealthy Italian merchant who lived in Cuba in the first half of the 19th century, and the people he owned, either as house slaves or on his coffee plantation.
Using an array of sources, Berti weaves together the stories of Boggiano and the people he owned as slaves. Uniting everything is the surname Boggiano, imposed on the slaves and still widespread in the Afro-Cuban community.
The book uses the mystery of the Boggianos to understand wider developments within the Caribbean, uncovering a hushed history of entrepreneurship, travel, exploitation, enslavement, aspiration, and intermixing of cultures and ethnicities.
As part of a promotional global tour to promote the book, a book launch will take place in London:
Event: History, Art and Strategies of Intervention – Boggiano Heirs by Cristiano Berti – Decolonising the Lens no 7.
Date and time: Tuesday 16th May 2023, 6pm
Address: Lecture Theatre A, London College of Communication, Elephant & Castle, London SE1 6SB
About the event:
Cristiano Berti is a visual artist interested in discovering the affinities between historical and artistic research. Boggiano Heirs is an artist’s book written in the form of a historical essay which interrogates Italy’s pro-slavery past. It focuses on the intangible legacy of Antonio Boggiano, a wealthy merchant from Savona (Italy) who lived in Cuba in the 19th century and owned hundreds of slaves. At the centre of artist’s attention is the surname Boggiano, imposed on the slaves and still widespread in the Afro-Cuban community.
In this talk Cristiano Berti will take the audience through the process and the findings of his investigation.
After his presentation, Berti will be joined in discussion by Christine Eyene and Mark Sealy.
The event is free to attend. Register to attend by emailing [email protected]
The book is part of a larger project entitled Futile Cycles: Boggiano, which include two other works developed by Berti: a wall installation depicting two large family trees, in which the people born in Africa stand at the apex, branching out through marriages that took place in the first half of the 19th century, and a video in which some stories collected by the author in the area where Antonio Boggiano’s coffee plantation once stood intersect with the conversation a family of Afro- Cuban Boggianos. The installation will be presented to the public at the end of 2023.
Due to its historical and artistic relevance at an international level, the book won the support of the Italian Council programme operated by the Italian Contemporary Creativity Directorate General of the Ministry of Culture, which aims to promote the production, knowledge and dissemination of contemporary Italian creation in the field of visual arts.
Boggiano Heirs is published by Quodlibet in Italian, English and Spanish, and in the early months of 2023 the author will undertake a promotional global tour to promote the book.
This includes the book launch in the UK as well as further tour locations including: Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes de Cuba (Havana), Instituto de Estudios CriÌticos 17 (Mexico City), and University of Texas Arlington (Arlington, USA).
