as part of the Fabbrica Europa 2025 festival
Brinjë më Brinjë (Rib to Rib) by Genny Petrotta delves into the layered history of the Burrnesha – socially recognized female-to-male third-gender from the Balkans, most notably formalised in the Kanun, Albania’s customary code.
Using Hamlet as a poetic framework, the following multi-channel video installation seeks to subvert the prevailing, misrepresentative depictions of Burrnesha perpetuated by Western media toward a ritualised reflection on power, gender, and identity.
Brinjë më Brinjë’s largest channel brings together the gaze of Drande, a Burrnesha from Shëngjin, into dialogue with spaces of the unconscious and archaic gestures, shot within Vila 31, the former residence of Enver Hoxha The performers Gloria Dorliguzzo and Cristina Kristal Rizzo enacts the Gjama e Burrave: ancient funeral rites traditionally performed by men for other men, and once forbidden under Hoxha’s communist regime.
Illuminating these scenographies the works’ soundscape, composed by Angelo Sicurella, features Amelia Rosselli’s re-written version of Hamlet’s monologue, translated into Albanian by Ledia Dushi and interwoven with her own poetic verses, bringing life toward a collective mantra: a symbolic bridge between shared visions and stories.
In its totality, the work evokes a restless sleep shared as a threshold experience, a liminal state in which all bodies dwell.
Genny Petrotta is an Arbëreshë artist based in Palermo. Her artistic research entangles poetic reflections on identity and the representation of forgotten or distorted stories by dominant narratives.
Her practice spans film, installation, and performance, embracing a cinematic process where poetic writing, research, and filming are in constant dialogue.
In 2023, her project Mamma Perdonami received the support of the Italian Council (XII Edition) and the On the Road Production Fellowship by Autostrada Biennale. Her work has been exhibited and screened at Transeuropa Festival (Romania), Autostrada
Biennale (Kosovo), Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo (Italy), Museo delle Civiltà (Italy), Postane (Turkey), and Manifesta 12 (Italy, 2018), among others.
Since 2016, she has been part of the artistic collective Il Pavone, producing immersive and site – specific video installations. In parallel, she has developed ongoing collaborations with artists and filmmakers, taking on roles that span from creative producer to archival researcher.
A video installation by Genny Petrotta
concept, direction, camera, and editing: Genny Petrotta
performers: Gloria Dorliguzzo (video), Cristina Kristal Rizzo (video)
with: Drande Dodaj, Ledia Dushi
sound: Angelo Sicurella Song excerpt from Kënga e Lazarit, performed by Saverio Guzzetta
poet and voice-over: Ledia Dushi
poetic excerpt from “La Libellula” by Amelia Rosselli
executive production: Luca Bradamante
production: Elena Castiglia
assistant director: Arlind Kola Produced by Luca Bradamante for Alción
co-produced by Federica Maria Bianchi for Snaporazverein
with the support of the Italian Cultural Institute of Tirana and Art Explora
project supported by FONDO – network for emerging creativity, coordinated by Santarcangelo dei Teatri and carried out in collaboration with: AMAT – Associazione Marchigiana Attività Teatrali, Centrale Fies, Emilia Romagna Teatro ERT / National Theatre, Fondazione Fabbrica Europa for contemporary arts, Fondazione I Teatri – Reggio Emilia, Fuorimargine / Center for Dance Production in Sardinia, L’arboreto – Teatro Dimora di Mondaino | Residency Center Emilia-Romagna, Lavanderia a Vapore / Fondazione Piemonte dal Vivo, OperaEstate Festival Veneto / CSC – Center for the Contemporary Stage, Ravenna Teatro, SCARTI – Center for Theatrical Innovation Production in Liguria, Teatro Stabile dell’Umbria, Triennale Milano Teatro.
photo: Genny Petrotta_Brinjë më Brinjë_Still da video_2025
