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Clip description
Palermo 4, representing 1939, introduces architecture of the period. Palermo 5, representing 1949, shows the after-effects of war on the city’s architecture.
Curator’s notes
Merewether’s repetition of shots, alongside the introduction of new ones, suggest that history progresses while many things stay the same. Repeating shots of a timeless type of street life and older examples of architecture, alongside signs of fascism and war, suggest the perseverance of a city’s culture and character in the face of monumental and destructive history. Shots of the same people, unchanged, across two decades also humourously defy cinematic logic and draw attention to the gap between the reality of the recorded image and what it is made to represent.
