Valeria Cozzarini, Atej Tutta: JULKA: What's in a name?

Opening: 27 February, 19.00  

Julka is a short animated film based on the short story Metulj na obešalniku (Butterfly on a Hanger) by Slovenian writer Boris Pahor (1913–2022), who was born in Trieste. The story is set in a school during the fascist era and tells of the cruel punishment meted out to a Slovenian girl for speaking her mother tongue. The episode reveals the everyday brutality of ideological repression, which is all the more shocking because it focuses on childhood. The film depicts the fascist regime and its "Italianization" not only as a system of prohibition, but as a form of persecution—a process in which guilt stems from linguistic identity itself. By emphasizing language as a tool of erasure, the story transcends its historical context and takes on a universal dimension. These themes, deeply rooted in the specific reality of Trieste and the Karst region, are depicted using the animation technique of rotoscoping, which lies at the intersection of drawing and reality.

The exhibition JULKA: What's in a Name? draws on the central themes of the animated film and Pahor's short story and develops them in a broader context. It focuses on the mother tongue, violence against minorities, and the history of fascism on its eastern border. Through a series of contrapuntal interviews with historian Marta Verginella, philosopher and sociologist Mirto Komel, writer Marco Balzan, and writer, journalist, and co-author of Pahor's biography Cristina Battocletti, it opens up space for different interpretations and reflections that go beyond the specific story and touch on current social issues. The historical experience of the Julian March and the position of linguistic minorities during fascism provide a starting point for a broader view of the contemporary world, in which concern for minority rights is inextricably linked to issues of equality and democracy. Each interview is conceived as a dialogue between words and images that takes the viewer into a specific geographical, yet symbolic and metaphorical landscape.

Valeria Cozzarini graduated in painting from the Academy of Fine Arts in Venice (2006) and completed her studies at the European Master's Course in Animation at the International Academy of Media and Arts in Germany (2008). She was selected as one of the resident artists in the artist-in-residence program of the Fondazione Bevilacqua La Masa in Venice (2009). She has carried out a number of art projects, including Circle, a week-long multimedia performance at the Exchange Gallery in Newlyn (UK), and the A(irpo)RT project as part of an artist residency in southern Germany. The experimental short film Spaces of Solitude was produced by ZKM (Center for Art and Media) in Karlsruhe (Germany). The artist received first prize at the Cortinametraggio Film Festival (2016) and the award for best art video at the Expression Art Movie Film Festival (2017). In 2025, she completed the short animated film Julka, produced by Arsmedia.

Atej Tutta received his master's degree from the Academy of Fine Arts in Venice, where he taught as an adjunct professor from 2009 to 2014. His work is characterized by a commitment to interdisciplinary dialogue and openness to theoretical and artistic experimentation, which encourages the constant renewal of forms, languages, and methods in his creative process. In the field of performing arts, he regularly collaborates with philosophers, choreographers, and theater directors (B. Kolenc, J. Verbruggen, V. Möderndorfer, E. Miler, etc.). His latest performance project with S. Nešković Peršin has been presented internationally in Europe, the United States, and Japan.