Cristiano Berti and the Boggiano’s epic tale, between coloniality and identity redemption

When Gericault painted The Raft of the Medusa, the question of slavery and the scandal of the Atlantic slave trade, which had been declared illegal but continued to operate clandestinely, was at the forefront of European public debate. At the time, history painting was considered the highest genre by academic standards, yet the French artist’s masterwork marked a turning point. The theme was chosen from current events, the story of regular people told from below in a reversal of perspective on the grand narrative of history. Furthermore, only recently some art historians have returned one of the most famous paintings of the modern era to its proper political context, inside the abolitionist movements that Gericault strongly supported. The relationship between art and history is ancient and complex, and in some ways, the overlap between the figures of the artist and the historian, which manifests itself today in the dissolution of disciplinary boundaries and the exchange of roles, represents its natural evolution.

Cristiano Berti, “Discendenza di Rosa, Francisco e Liberata Boggiano”, 2018-2025, elementi di collegamento e cornici in resina contenenti fotografie e materiale cartaceo. Foto di Piero Ottaviano, courtesy Guido Costa e Cristiano Berti

The themes of the Atlantic slave trade, slavery and colonialism narrated from a grassroots perspective are explored in Cristiano Berti’s exhibition, Eredi Boggiano, on display until 10 October, 2025, at the Guido Costa Projects gallery in Turin as part of the Cicli futili Boggiano project. Berti is an artist whose work begins with positioning his gaze, as discreet and anti-rhetorical as possible, on seemingly ordinary and harmless contexts that, through a phenomenology of revelation, tell stories of marginalization and discrimination: personal stories that become powerful amplifiers of critical issues in collective history.

Antonio Boggiano was a slave trader and landowner who relocated from Savona to Cuba in 1796. Shortly before his death, he gave his surname as a “legacy” to his workforce: slaves who, after being deported from Africa, were able to liberate themselves and give rise to a large offspring. Berti came upon this story while researching other occurrences surrounding the Genoese sculptor Giuseppe Gaggini, who created the Fuente de la India fountain in Havana. Following chance and instinct – two infallible compasses – and ahead of the current wave of studies on colonialism and decolonial discourse, the artist began a long research project in 2018 that included archive records and meetings with Boggiano’s descendants, gathering clues from family memories and stories.

Cristiano Berti, “Pero está por ahí, ¿no?”, 2020, still da video, courtesy Guido Costa e Cristiano Berti

The display progresses through three narrative devices. A significant family tree unfolds on the gallery walls, rendering the Boggiano descendants palpable, individually, and through them, History itself. We are only a few generations away from individuals who were deported during what is known as the Black Holocaust. A video (Pero está por ahí, ¿no?) immerses us in the narrative, presented through Berti’s adept perspective, rendering himself nearly invisible and unobtrusive, thereby enabling the protagonists to disclose their identities and realities through snippets of dialogue, while the character of Antonio Boggiano materializes in the verses of a local raconteur.

Simone Berti, “Pero está por ahí, ¿no?”, 2020, video still

Cristiano Berti, “Pero está por ahí, ¿no?”, 2020, still da video, courtesy Guido Costa e Cristiano Berti

The third item on display is the book Eredi Boggiano (Boggiano’s descendants), whereby Berti meticulously reconstructs the narrative of Boggiano and his descendants as a historical essay, utilizing a rigorous approach grounded on historical evidence. The artist explains how this story, which appears to be about domination, subjugation and exploitation, demonstrates, above all, a sense of agency: the ability of former slaves to actively interact with social mechanisms, acting to emancipate themselves from their condition and, in some cases, consciously choosing to keep the surname Boggiano in order to maintain ties with their family community of origin. Liberata is the name of the ancestor. When observed closely and from a lower perspective, history demonstrates the significant influence of individual actions. Individuals who construct their own identity, withstand adversity, and achieve redemption.

Emanuela Termine

Info:

Cristiano Berti. Eredi Boggiano
12/06/2025 – 10/10/2025
Guido Costa Projects
Via Giuseppe Mazzini, 24 – Torino
guidocostaprojects.com

The public must be left in its..