Filippo Vogliazzo. European Spirits

About

A sculptural installation that is gradually consumed by the audience, European Spirits creates a temporary shared space around the consumption of homemade spirits. The installation offers the audience a selection of several liters of home-made spirits in numerous reused plastic bottles collected over time. Initiated in 2021 by the artist Filippo Vogliazzo, the project traces recent history from an alternative perspective - from the dramatic consequences of European austerity to the changing relationship of farmers and small-scale traders with their landscapes. Many of the liqueurs, still produced today in the gray area between a centralized form of government and the "suburbs" of the European Union, open up the possibility of approaching themes such as globalization and tradition, alternative distribution models and official trade markets. From Poitín from Ireland to Patxaran from the Basque Country, the production and consumption of homemade spirits is presented as a cultural practice closely intertwined with struggles for identity and against imperialism. Through performative interventions by several participating artists, European Spirits invites the audience to raise a glass and toast those standing next to them, to briefly linger together in the anti-imperialist bliss that homemade spirits have to offer.