Immersive exhibition · Macro La Pelanda, Rome · 2010

Labirinto Fellini.

The immersive exhibition for Federico Fellini's ninetieth, curated by Oscar winners Dante Ferretti and Francesca Lo Schiavo at Macro La Pelanda. We contributed to the scenic sculptures: the Rex from Amarcord, the Maestro's elephants.

Story

Act one

The Maestro's
ninetieth.

In 2010 the Rome Film Festival dedicates its edition to the fiftieth anniversary of La Dolce Vita and at the same time celebrates what would have been Federico Fellini's ninetieth birthday. The most visible sign of those celebrations is Labirinto Fellini: three thousand square metres of immersive scenography at the Macro La Pelanda in Rome — the section of the former Testaccio Slaughterhouse where pigs were once scalded, converted into a contemporary art museum.

The concept and the immersive installation are by Dante Ferretti and Francesca Lo Schiavo: two of the most awarded production designers in world cinema — six statuettes at the Cannes Festival, three Oscars each at the time of the exhibition (for The Aviator, Sweeney Todd, Hugo). Under their direction, the Pelanda becomes a journey through corridors and arches from which full-scale sets from the Maestro's films emerge: the paparazzi of La Dolce Vita, the confessional of Otto e Mezzo, the suburbs of Satyricon, the rhinoceros of E la nave va rebuilt by Giovanni Gianese.

For the production of the scenic sculptures we collaborated: the Rex from Amarcord as a monumental silhouette, the ceremonial elephant with pavilion on its back, other dreamlike elements of Fellini's iconography. Pieces that — under Ferretti's signature — enter the labyrinthine route of the Pelanda.

The ocean liner Rex from Amarcord rebuilt as scenography for the Fellini Exhibition at Macro La Pelanda: dark bow of the ship with the inscription 'GLORIA' on the side, three large red funnels, row of illuminated white portholes along the hull, midnight blue background; the scene is seen through two large beige arches of the museum that frame the ship like a painting — **The Rex from Amarcord.** Seen through the museum's arches like a painting or a dream

View of the museum installation of Labirinto Fellini at Macro La Pelanda — **The installation.** The Pelanda's arches used as scenic wings of the labyrinthine route

Another view of the installation, with scenic details — **Panoramic view.** The visitor oriented themselves in order to lose orientation — Ferretti's signature

Act two

The Maestro's
elephants.

Alongside the Rex, the ceremonial elephants — another of the recurring images in Fellini's most visionary films, particularly in the tradition of the dreamlike circus procession that runs through Casanova, I Clowns, Otto e Mezzo. We sculpted in the round an elephant resting on the ground, with harness in faux gilded sheet metal along its flanks and a small ceremonial pavilion on its back — small white columns, pointed dome, curved flag. Oriental, picturesque, exaggerated style — exactly as in the frescoes of Fellinian memory.

Set up within a frame of beige arches, the elephant offered visitors different views depending on the point of observation — head in profile from one niche, back and pavilion from another, purple-blue background of the nocturnal cyclorama as for a true set scenography. A solution that directly quotes the way Fellini himself composed the shot: the detail seen within a frame, never the whole, always a fragment of something larger.

All the sculptures are born in clay in our workshops, are transferred to fibreglass over a steel armature, and finished by hand colour by colour. The direct legacy of the polychrome portraits of the Roman school — the Cinecittà tradition of the Sixties — applied under Ferretti's direction to the tribute for one of his greatest authors.

Elephant sculpted in the round for the Fellini Exhibition: animal's body resting on the ground in grey clay, ceremonial harness in faux gilded sheet metal on the flanks with central crest, small pavilion/shrine on its back with pointed dome and flag, full side view — **The ceremonial elephant.** Full view of the piece sculpted in the round

The arches. The elephant framed — the detail seen as Fellini composed his shots

Detail of the sculpting in the Creation Art workshop for the Fellini exhibition: sculpture still in raw clay, in the manual modelling phase — **In the workshop.** The clay modelling phase — the freest moment of the sculpting

Behind the scenes

Under Ferretti's signature,
but with our hands.

Working for a three-time Oscar-winning production designer means understanding his grammar: how he uses the frame, how he plays with scale, where he wants the detail and where he wants suggestion instead. We delivered the rough and finished pieces to the Pelanda according to his design.

Clay modelling

The elephant is born as a full sculpture in clay in the workshop: the same technique of the statues for cinema from the Roman school of Cinecittà. Clay allows us to model freely the volumes and the details — the pleated skin, the grain of the back, the curve of the trunk — before moving to the reproduction in scenic material.

Fibreglass over steel armature

From the clay we make the silicone rubber mould, from which the fibreglass is cast with polyester resins. Inside, a steel armature gives the piece the rigidity to hold up in the exhibition without deforming and the reduced weight for transport from the workshop to the Pelanda. It's the same technique as the statues for theme parks, but with the level of finish of cinema.

Polychromy by hand

The gilded harness on the elephant's flanks is patinated by hand with successive glazes: a warm bronze base, then a glaze of gold, finally targeted highlights of brightness on the relief. The faux sheet metal is one of the typical exercises of our craft — making people believe that the metal was hammered by hand by an ancient Persian artisan.

3,000 sqm

the extent of the Pelanda installed

93 days

of opening, from 30 October 2010 to 30 January 2011

6× Oscars

the statuettes of curators Ferretti + Lo Schiavo at the time of the exhibition

Second life

From an archive exhibition,
to a workshop method.

Labirinto Fellini closes its doors on 30 January 2011. The sculptures are dismantled, some return to MACRO's storage, others come back to our workshops. Giovanni Gianese's rhinoceros is later exhibited in other exhibitions dedicated to the Maestro, a sign of the museum-grade quality that scenography reached.

For us the most important legacy is not the single piece, but the method: how you work under the direction of an Oscar-winning production designer, how his sketches are translated into a piece that holds at real scale, how to make a "faux sheet metal" harness believable within centimetres of the visitor's eye. That method is the same thing we apply for the Cinecittà World sets and for the statues of the theme parks like Rainbow MagicLand.

In 2020, exactly ten years after Labirinto Fellini and for the centenary of the Maestro's birth, Rome again celebrates Fellini with Felliniana at Cinecittà — another exhibition with archive scenography. The initiatives on Italian auteur cinema remain, and our craft continues to be called upon.

Tech sheet

All production data

Type: Immersive museum installation · full-scale scenography dedicated to the cinema of Federico Fellini
Exhibition title: Labirinto Fellini
Dates: 30 October 2010 — 30 January 2011
Occasion: Ninetieth anniversary of Federico Fellini's birth · fiftieth anniversary of La Dolce Vita · offshoot of the 2010 Rome Film Festival
Venue: Macro La Pelanda · Piazza Orazio Giustiniani 4, Rome · former Testaccio Slaughterhouse · 3,000 sqm of exhibition spaces
Concept and immersive installation: Dante Ferretti and Francesca Lo Schiavo — production designers each winners of three Oscars at the time of the exhibition
"La Grande Parata" section: Curated by Sam Stourdzé · archive materials, magazine covers, photographs, clips, drawings by the Maestro
Rhinoceros from E la nave va: Rebuilt by Giovanni Gianese (credited by the specialised press)
Our contribution: Scenic sculptures for the immersive installation. Among the pieces:

Ocean liner Rex — the monumental silhouette of the ship from Amarcord (1973), produced as a wing to be framed through the museum's arches

Ceremonial elephant in the round · sculpted in clay, reproduced in fibreglass over a steel armature, finished polychrome by hand · harness in faux gilded sheet metal, pavilion/shrine on its back

Other sculptures and scenography from the Maestro's films
Techniques: Clay sculpting · silicone rubber moulding · fibreglass casting over steel armature · polychrome finish by hand · scenic painting in glazes for faux gilded sheet metal effects · flat shaped silhouettes for the Rex
Opening hours: Tuesday to Sunday, 4:00 PM – midnight · ticket € 7 full / € 5 reduced
Legacy: The polychrome sculpting techniques — tradition of the Roman school of Cinecittà — applied under Ferretti's direction to the tribute for one of the greatest authors of Italian cinema

Other exhibitions, events and archives

Ebla Archive — the museum installation for Syrian culture, Aleppo → Brussels → Sapienza
Expo Milan 2015 — the Reef Ball and Qatar pavilions for the world expo
Cinecittà World — the cinema theme park, where our scenographic tradition continues the dialogue with Cinecittà
Gangs of New York — same Roman environment, same tradition, here for actual cinema

Labirinto Fellini.

Clay modelling

Fibreglass over steel armature

Polychromy by hand

From an archive exhibition,to a workshop method.

From an archive exhibition,
to a workshop method.