Male Extinction

The group exhibition “Male Extinction”, curated by Massimiliano Scuderi, asks a provocative question: what might a future without the male gender look like? Featuring works by Sitara Abuzar Ghaznawi, Nora Aurrekoetxea, Caterina De Nicola, Eva Gold, and Miranda Secondari, the show explores historical, social, and cultural narratives while reimagining women’s power from prehistoric times to today.

Recent genetic research suggests the Y chromosome – key to determining gender – is deteriorating. Meanwhile, archaeological discoveries reveal women held significant roles as rulers, warriors, hunters, and shamans since the Stone Age. Notably, the “Ivory Man” of Seville, long assumed male, was revealed by protein analysis to be female, highlighting the overlooked authority of women in history.

In this context, “Male Extinction” explores the rediscovery of the innate, “wild” Self – as described by Jungian psychoanalyst Clarissa Pinkola Estés – a natural life force that shapes the female soul. The five artists respond to the former Lanificio, a UNESCO site layered with history, creating works that dialogue with the space.

Eva Gold examines ambiguity, coercion, and power systems; Miranda Secondari uses her body to build site-specific architectural performances; Caterina De Nicola explores glitches and found objects to question form and meaning; Sitara Abuzar Ghaznawi presents narrative “Cornelian boxes” reflecting class consciousness, including her titular work imagining a world without cisgender men; and Nora Aurrekoetxea constructs relational, unstable spaces from objects, bodies, and intuition.