“In another work in the exhibition, the artist references the tradition of sciacquajje, earrings worn by women in the Abruzzo region. The name of this piece of jewelry came from the Italian verb sciaquare, to rinse: the object was thus associated with the sound produced by its pendants during the gestures and movements of washerwomen. According to local belief, this tinkling sound served to ward off the evil eye: daily labor was thus linked to a magical and protective dimension. Beatrice Celli has reinvented this ornament, enlarging it and transforming it into a sound installation, rich with bells. These elements are immersed in the water of a copper conca, an old basin that belonged to the artist’s great-grandmother— a container that here becomes the vessel of a sensory and cosmological memory. Dip your hands into the water, listen to the chains resonate, and let the sciacquajje ward off the invisible…”

VALENTINA ULISSE tr.

Sciacquajja
2025
Ceramic, metal, conca from Abruzzo, chains, hydrophone
90 x 86 x 5 cm