Muna Mussie
Cinema Impero
- 14.11 — 15.11 2026
- Performances
- portuguese premiere
- MNAC – Museu Nacional de Arte Contemporânea - Polivalente Room
- 5€
- ages 16+
- 20 MIN
- In Italian, with surtitles in Portuguese and English.
An intimate encounter with images that shaped official history and may yet rewrite it.
Cinema Impero is a one-to-one experience in which Italian- Eritrean artist Muna Mussie continues her exploration of dual cultural identity. The title refers to the cinema built by the Italian Fascist regime in 1937 in Asmara, Eritrea.
For this work, Mussie brings together archival footage from the Istituto Luce, founded in 1924 as an educational and propaganda tool, with footage she recorded during her travels in Eritrea. These images are interwoven with three voices: a synthetic AI voice that describes what it sees; Mussie’s own voice, recounting what she recorded; and her shouted voice, appropriating fragments of the official rhetoric that framed the regime’s images.
The relationship between these images and voices opens up an intimate and powerful reflection on how moving images construct, manipulate and rewrite official narratives.
Note it down
This performance is presented in two versions: a one-on-one version and a group version.
Multiple sessions from 10:15 a.m. to 5:15 p.m.
Accessibility
In Italian, with surtitles in Portuguese and English.
The venue is accesible for people with reduced mobility.
Credits
Written and directed by Muna Mussie Filmmaker and video editor Luca Mattei Africanist ant(i) ropologist Simão Amista Contemporary art curator Martina Angelotti Musician Matteo Nobile Sound designer SimonLuca Laitempergher Translator Susan Zuckerman Special thanks Filmon Yemane (for sharing the artificial intelligence technology dedicated to blind and visually impaired people) Supported by Passage Festival, Italian Cultural Institute of Strasbourg Co-produced by Museo delle Civiltà Supported by blOOm network for one-on-one creations, developed by Fondazione Armunia, Primavera dei Teatri, Santarcangelo Festival, Sardegna Teatro, Triennale Milano Teatro
Muna Mussie (Eritrea, 1978) began her artistic journey in 1998, training and working as an actress and performer with Teatrino Clandestino until 2001. In 2002, she attended the Corso Europeo di alta formazione per l’attore at Teatro Valdoca, led by Cesare Ronconi, and continued collaborating as an actress with the company until 2012. From 2001 to 2005, she was a founding member of the research collective Open, where, following the performance opentolikemunamussie (2005), she began developing a personal exploration of her presence on stage. Muna Mussie’s...