More Men Than Columbus (2016), Paola Bernadelli (UK/IT)

In 1933, Italian fascist General Italo Balbo and his Italian Air Armada of 98 men were given a feted civic and public reception in Derry~Londonderry, a stop en-route in their pioneering seaplane journey from Rome to Chicago, an event designed to act as a highly visible display of a military power. This body of work explores these events as one uncomfortable narrative that has slipped unseen through the fabric of local, national, and international histories, challenging our willingness to redact or reimagine our past.  More Men Than Columbus (2016) was developed by the artist in the Future Artist Makers digital fabrication training programme at FabLab Nerve Centre. Although the artist had never previously used digital fabrication, it is a single artwork that engages with and represents a chronology of technologies – from early 20th century newspaper print, to photography and microfiche, to scanning and digital design, and finally laser cutting.