Passeggiata (2008)
DVD

Passeggiata (2008) is a filmed performance featured in Pablo Bronstein’s exhibition Palazzi Torinesi (Palaces of Turin) in 2008. The exhibition is a collection of art objects that act as an architectural tour of famous Turin buildings that have been both public and private. While Bronstein explores and reinterprets the city’s architectural heritage, Palazzo Madama, one of its most renowned landmarks, appears as a painted backdrop, framed in a postcard-like composition that emphasises its most recognisable, touristic angle.

Against this staged setting, Passeggiata unfolds as a choreographed performance. Two dancers pose, stroll, and twirl in front of the painted façade, embodying a stylised elegance reminiscent of sprezzatura. Their movements are directed by Bronstein, whose off-camera commands can be faintly heard beneath a pulsating electronic soundtrack.

Filmed in the artist’s studio, the work references an enduring Italian tradition, Passeggiata, an early evening or after-dinner stroll. The dancers’ exaggerated gestures and affected posturing highlight the performative nature of urban spaces and social behaviours, where individuals and the city become sites of display. By juxtaposing a theatrical backdrop with meticulously orchestrated movement, Bronstein reveals the constructed grandeur of Palazzo Madama, questioning the lines between artifice and authenticity.

Through this interplay of architecture, performance, and spectacle, Bronstein invites viewers to consider the power structures that delineate the nuance between public and private spaces and the invisible forces that govern the staging of history and heritage.

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