The Chair of Cultural Anthropology of the Faculty of Political Sciences in Trieste is proud to have the World Body-Painting Festival Staff as a partner in this project.
Our team, leaded by Professor Antonio L. Palmisano, has set up a research group whose purpose is to analyze and to think over the traditional and modern ways of expression and communication that go from body-manipulation and body-modification to body-painting, body-art, graffiti and street art.
All these reflections will be collected in a book which is structured as following:
the first part will deal with body-modification and body-manipulation, the second one with body-painting and body-art; finally, the last part will explore the domain of graffiti, performances and street art.
This study could lead to a new comprehension and a new definition of these processes and could contribute to a renewed dialogue between artists’ communities.
We would like to deepen some questions, such as: Are men and their bodies instrument or a support of communication? Does the social actor communicate a certain message to himself or to the others? And does the outside world communicate something to a body? The individual experience configures a clear mark of identity when it is communicated and expressed. This body and its inscriptions become the message to the world, by translating the self into the world. This special translation is the artistic performance.
As far as the World Body-Painting Festival role is concerned, we would like to promote an active involvement in our project. We are sure that the participation of the staff and of the artists can offer a great contribution to the book. So, our invitation for all of you, staff, artists, models, public is to express you opinions, your experiences by helping us to give voice to this wonderful style of art.

Dott.ssa Desirée Pangerc