No One is a Prophet. Monia Ben Hamouda and the Writing of the Undecidable

This essay contextualizes the role and significance of Italian-Tunisian artist Monia Ben Hamouda (born in Milan, 1991) within the landscape of contemporary Italian art. It begins by situating Ben Hamouda's sculptural practice in relation to the French artistic scene of the 1990s and early 2000s, as well as the English scene of the 1980s. Her major works are then analyzed through the lens of three pivotal moments in Italy's art history: Futurism, the early phase of Arte Povera, and the Concrete Poetry movement of the 1970s. Drawing on Derrida's concept of the "undecidable," her work is characterized as a site of dialectical tension between the narratives, values, and cultural grammars of her dual heritage. Finally, Ben Hamouda’s exploration of political attacks on monuments – from the destruction of the Buddhas of Bamiyan by ISIS to the defacement of statues during Black Lives Matter protests – is interpreted as an ethical questioning that challenges viewers to envision a new Mediterranean unity. The essay was published on the occasion of the 2024 edition of the MAXXI BVLGARI Prize for Italian art.