17 July – 6 September 2026
She Flickered In and Out of History is a new video and mixed-media installation by interdisciplinary artist Elisa Giardina Papa (b. Medicina, Italy; lives and works in New York, U.S., and Sant’Ignazio, Sicily).
In 1831, an underwater volcanic eruption gave rise to a new landform between Tunisia and Sicily, sparking a violent sovereignty dispute among European powers. Six months later, the island vanished beneath the surface. She Flickered In and Out of History explores the geological, mythological and political temporalities of the Mediterranean through the historical and speculative story of this island that refused to be annexed.
The video is presented on a large, free-standing LED screen, alongside a series of sculptures and photographs. A poem, spoken in Sicilian and set to an original score by New York-based composer duendita, threads through the visual narrative, weaving together historical records with reflections on decolonial and queer temporalities. The poem, composed by Megan Fernandes from Giardina Papa’s film script and archival research, lyrically deliberates on the island’s eruptive emergence and subsequent refusal. Sculptures in glass and volcanic stone, together with cameraless photographs, materialise a key aspect of the narrative. In deep, saturated hues, they embody the last stanza of the poem, which draws on historical observations of the altered colour of the sun following the 1831 underwater eruption. Caused by the release of volcanic particles and sulphur aerosols into the atmosphere, observers from the Mediterranean to the Middle East and the Caribbean reported seeing blue, purple, and green suns.
About the artist
Elisa Giardina Papa’s research-based art practice seeks forms of knowledge and desire that have been disqualified and rendered nonsensical by hegemonic demands for order and legibility. Through a critical yet poetic approach, she works across large-scale video installation, experimental film, and ceramic and glass sculptures, to draw attention to those aspects of our lives which remain radically unruly, untranslatable, and incomputable.
Her work has been exhibited and screened at the 59th Biennale di Venezia, MoMA, the Whitney Museum of American Art, Gropius Bau, ICA London, Vienna Secession, HKW Berlin, Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt, Seoul Mediacity Biennale, the 6th Buenos Aires Bienal de la Imagen en Movimiento, M+ Hong Kong, among others.
Giardina Papa is also a founding member of the artist collective Radha May. Together with Indian artist Nupur Mathur and Ugandan artist Bathsheba Okwenje, they develop performances and art installations that reveal hidden histories and peripheral sites, exploring their relation to gender, sexuality, and the legacies of colonialism.
Giardina Papa received an MFA from RISD, a PhD in Film, Media, and Gender Studies from the University of California, Berkeley. She lives and works in New York and Sant’Ignazio, Sicily.
Supporters
The exhibition at ICA is generously supported by the Christian Levett Collection and Musée FAMM Mougins.
The project is supported by the Italian Council programme (2024), promoted by the Directorate-General for Contemporary Creativity of the Italian Ministry of Culture; Bogotá Museum of Modern Art (MAMBO); MACTE, Museo di Arte Contemporanea di Termoli; the Malcom S. Forbes Centre for Culture & Media Studies, Department of Modern Culture and Media, Brown University; the Humanities Research Fund, Brown University; and Gruppo Cristella.
Images: Elisa Giardina Papa, She Flickered In and Out of History, 2026. Video installation, 18 minutes, variable dimensions. Still from the video. Courtesy of the artist. The project is supported by the Italian Council program (2024) promoted by the Directorate-General for Contemporary Creativity of the Italian Ministry of Culture.
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