Installazione plastica, sonora e visuale
Creation _ Maria Federica Maestri
Original text _ Francesco Pititto
Installation, composition _ Maria Federica Maestri
Performer on video_Alessia Dell’Imperio, Iyed Fessi, Matilde Gazzi, Greta Massera, Federica Rosati, Matteo Sabasco, Tommaso Sementa, Carlotta Spaggiari, Barbara Voghera
Musica _ Andrea Azzali
Music _ Andrea Azzali
Curating _ Elena Sorbi
Organization _ Ilaria Stocchi
Communication, press office_ Giovanna Pavesi
Promotion, graphic design _ Alessandro Conti
Technical care _ Alice Scartapacchio
Head of production _ Giulia Mangini
Assistant _ Dino Todoverto
Images _ Maria Federica Maestri
Production _ Lenz Fondazione
In collaboration with
ISREC Istituto Storico della Resistenza e dell’Età Contemporanea di Parma ETS
With the support of La Giovane S.c.p.a.
Special thanks to ANFFAS, ANMIC, Coop La Bula Onlus, SO Inclusione persone con disabilità del Comune di Parma
Confirming the poetic-political centrality of the Permanent Project on the themes of the Resistance and the Holocaust, on the occasion of the Celebrations for April 25th, Lenz Fondazione presents, for the third consecutive year, a new site-specific plastic, visual and sound installation for the Parma City Council Chamber, entitled IL CASTELLO, on the Nazi program of euthanasia of disabled people, already investigated scenically in 2017 in the show Aktion T4.
It is a contemporary artistic reworking on the themes of social stigma and institutionalized violence against people born with physical and mental disabilities during Nazism. The installation of images and fairy-tale words of disabled boys and girls activates the participants' consciousness, through a playful and childlike experience that transforms into a tragic experience, in an act of political and moral condemnation of Nazi-fascist ideology.
The installation takes its inspiration from Hartheim Castle, home to the Hartheim extermination center, a facility involved in the Nazi program (known as Aktion T4), where German citizens deemed mentally or physically unfit were systematically killed with poison gas. In all, it is estimated that a total of 30,000 people, including the sick, disabled, and concentration camp prisoners, were executed in Hartheim.
The Castle was built with the support of the La Giovane cooperative, which also chose in 2026 to support Lenz's ongoing research on this decisive historical period, in collaboration with the local associations committed to supporting people with disabilities (ANMIC Parma, ANffAS Parma, La Bula Società Cooperativa Sociale), the Operational Structure (SO) Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities of the Municipality of Parma and the Historical Institute of the Resistance and the Contemporary Age of Parma ETS.
From April 21st to 24th, from 10:30 am to 1:30 pm and from 2:30 pm to 6:30 pm, the installation is a continuous cycle, open to visitors free of charge and without reservations, accessible and accessible to everyone*, including boys and girls.