Morena Luciani Russo (Susa Valley, Italy) is a visual artist, performer and researcher within the archaic traditions and cults of Old Europe.
Her research moves between art and shamanism, in a fusion between contemporary language and ancestral symbols. An iconographic and anthropological journey into a multidimensional world, full of creatures on the border between human, animal and plant, a Feminine who expresses the power and sacredness of nature and other worlds.
In performative-ritual work, she creates collective experiences in which to restore life and meaning to the symbols and narratives that have inhabited our internal landscapes since the beginning.
She’s an author and shamanic teacher, widely recognized across Italy.
Education
1994-1997 Scuola d’Arte Luca Vigna, Turin.
She continued as a self-taught artist.
2000 Bachelor’s Degree in Anthropology, with a thesis exploring Prehistoric Art and the Symbolic Roots of Shamanism.
Group Exhibitions
1999 – Finalist, Io Espongo, Azimut, Turin1999 – Prendete l’Underground, Azimut, Turin
2000 – Murazzi, Turin, curated by Luca Beatrice
2001 – Artisti a Torino, Torino Esposizioni, Young Artists Section
2001 – Alberto Vattiata Gallery, Turin
2001, 2003 – Annual Members’ Exhibition, Promotrice delle Belle Arti, Palazzo della Promotrice delle Belle Arti, Turin
2003 – Circolo d’Arte Ebdò, Turin
2008 – Paratissima, Turin (off-section of Artissima)
2014 – Omaggio alla Potnia, Sala delle Arti, Casa delle Donne, Rome – Guest exhibition at the conference Marija Gimbutas. Twenty Years of Goddess Studies
2014 – FIGURIAMOCI – Visions Beyond the Myth. Four Artists for Four Goddesses, National Archaeological Museum of Paestum
Performances
2015 – Aedee, performance with Morena Luciani Russo and Thuline Andreoni, Villa 5, Turin
2016 – Madre Orsa, ritual performance dedicated to the most ancient goddess of humanity, International Conference Indigenous Culturesof Peace Culture- Indigene di Pace. I Sentieri della Terra, Fabbrica delle E, Turin
Solo Exhibitions
1998 – Ruggine, Turin
2005 – Le donne non sono macchine! (Women Are Not Machines!), Former Church of Santa Croce, Avigliana
Special Projects & Collaborations
2000 – Included in the Care of Archive, VIAFARINI Gallery, Milan; participation in gallery workshops
2006 – Participation in the HYPE project (Milan, Amsterdam)
2006 – La città materna, collaborative project with Cécile Dossogne and Monica Seksich, Casa Marchini-Ramello, San Maurizio (Turin)
2007 – La città materna, guest exhibition at the conference Il Divino. Attraversare il presente, osare il futuro. Relazioni, pratiche e saperi delle donne, Pinerolo (Turin)
2009 – Video presentation at the conference Il Risveglio delle I-Dee (with Ass. Gilanie, Catania)
2009 – Installation La valigia. Viaggio nell’immaginario femminile (The Suitcase. A Journey into the Female Imagination), Susa (Turin)
2011 – Città Materna, Palazzo Farnese, Civic Museum of Contemporary Art, Ortona (CH)
2012 – Guest exhibition, Culture Indigene di Pace. Donne e Uomini Oltre il Conflitto
Publications & Covers
2012 – Cover artwork for Procreare la Vita, Filosofare la Morte by Aida Ribero
2019 – Cover artwork for “13 Donne per 13 Lune”, Psiche 2 Publishing
International Recognition
2021 – Wisdom Across the Ages, selected by the Jury of the Association for the Study of Women and Mythology for the Annual Symposium; featured in the ASWM Gallery