Durante: Cyop&kaf artists' exhibition celebrating Dante Alighieri

Durante is the new exhibit of street artists Cyop&kaf, presented last November 22 in the hall of the Board of Directors of Federico II University. At the inauguration were Rector Matteo Lorito, Mayor Gaetano Manfredi and the Director of the Department of Humanities, Andrea Mazzucchi. Durante is inspired by the Divine Comedy and couldn't be more themed: 2021 is actually Dante Alighieri’s year and we've tried to pay homage remembering him as much as possible with events, exhibitions and so on... Even with a limited edition series of Magnum ice creams!

The exhibition signed by Cyop&kaf is composed of 40 plates of different sizes: 40 x 100 cm for the Inferno (Hell), 4 x 2,10 mt for the Purgatorio (Purgatory) and finally 2,8 x 3 mt for the Paradiso (Heaven). The plates are combined with panels bearing the original verses the images are inspired to, with the ones of ancient miniatures. Until December 15, the panels will be exhibited in the cloister of San Pietro Martire of the Department of Humanistic Studies, while from December 18 (and until February 10 next year) they will be moved to the Monumental Complex of San Domenico Maggiore. The exhibition is free admission (with green pass) and is open from Monday to Saturday from 9am to 6pm.

Here's a description of Durante in the words of Director Mazzucchi: "The exhibit is an attempt to portray the Comedy in images, made by two internationally renowned artists, though strongly rooted in the Neapolitan territory, such as Cyop&Kaf, who, taking inspiration from the fourteenth-century miniatures hosted in the manuscripts of the Comedy, have tried to reinterpret, according to their sensibility (contemporary and strongly oriented towards the key of urban regeneration), the great heritage of imagery that the Comedy has made available. The University with great intelligence and foresight, has acquired these works, which become a heritage of the Federico II and an opportunity to reflect on the mechanisms of creativity." And the mayor of Naples added: "A very interesting exhibition that highlights the modernity of Dante's work and how Dante can now be reinterpreted even looking at the most innovative trends in contemporary art. The City will make available the Complex of San Domenico Maggiore, which will allow an exhibition that can be accessed by all citizens and tourists, especially during the Christmas period. A nice way to remember Dante in Naples by looking at modernity."

Cyop&kaf are artists strongly tied to the Neapolitan territory, and recently celebrated their 25 years of work. Their murals have been filling Naples with color since the beginning of 2000 and the duo has a special bond with the "Quartieri Spagnoli", so much so that there is now a real map, created by the creatives themselves, to orientate themselves among the multitude of works they have created! In fact, going in search of Cyop&kaf's works has become a real thematic itinerary, with groups of enthusiasts going on a "pilgrimage" to the Quartieri to follow the traces of the duo of artists on walls, gates, garages, newsstands... You name it! Cyop&kaf's creativity really has no boundaries and even on occasion of the Durante exhibition, the two did an incredible job, collaborating with the Department of Humanities on the fantastic project for Dante's seven hundred years. The HSD was in fact working on the Illuminated Dante Project, with the aim of creating an "online archive and a codicological and iconographic database of all the ancient manuscripts of the Divine Comedy provided with images". The stylistic code of Cyop&kaf is creating works to be closely linked to the territory and, at the same time, able to "provoke" and make people think. "Experimentation" is the key word of their works, which are not only works of street art, since the duo uses multiple languages to express their art.