Marinella Senatore’s 'Luminarie' is a series of light installations conceived as part of the ongoing project ‘Protest Forms: Memory and Celebration’. These sculptures owned their name to the Latin 'lumen per aeria (light through the air)' because they are made from petrol lamps that at night give the impression of being suspended in mid-air. Reminiscent of the artisanal traditions of Southern Italy in which elaborate light structures adorn the cities with ephemeral architecture, Senatore’s light installations completely subverts the meaning of the tradition, transforming the luminaria from a purely ephemeral element of festivity into an instrument of aggregation with deep political meaning.

Addressing the connections between language, culture and identity, 'Remember the first time you saw your name' (2020) is above all a reference to the colonial practices of re-naming African names—those of both person and place—to make them easier to pronounce. Senatore’s most signal and powerful rallying cry here appears to illuminate the space as a reminder of the deep link between one’s name and identity alongside the role it plays in asserting a life’s difference and specificity.

Works from the same series have previously been exhibited at the Queens Museum, New York, NY (2017); High Line, New York, NY (2018); and, most recently, as part of Dior’s Cruise Collection 2021, presented live audience-free in Lecce, Italy (summer 2020).