Suono e Spettacolo. Athanasius Kircher, un percorso nelle Immagini sonore.

The Society of Jesus made great propaganda efforts throughout the seventeenth century and chose the images and the play as a privileged means to communicate and persuade. Athanasius Kircher, a key figure of the seventeenth century, he decided to dominate the wild nature of sound through Phonurgia Nova, which includes a gallery of powerful symbolic images for Baroque aesthetics. The essay, through the grant of the images from the Library of the Department of Mathematics "Guido Castelnuovo" Sapienza University of Rome, aims to understand, through the pictures offered by Kircher, the sound phenomenon and the spectacle that this produces. In Phonurgia Nova a process of dramatization sound effects takes place, often through machines and "visions" applied to the theatrical reality, as experimental and astonishing environment beloved in baroque. Kircher illustrates the sound through explanatory figures, so to dominate the sound through the eyes. Sound is seen, admired and represented: its spectacle not only takes place through the implementation of sound machines or the "wonders" applied to the theater, but even through images, creating create a sense of wonder in in the erudite person of the seventeenth century

Colombian deathscapes: Social practices and policy responses

This article analyzes social practices in Colombian deathscapes in light of cemetery modernization plans, based on fieldwork in Bogotá and Medellín. Using a performative approach it analyzes the antagonistic aspects of 2 sets of events articulating social inequality and violence: sanctification rituals and conflict-prone funerals. The case studies suggest that social practices enacted in sanctification rituals and “hot services” are simultaneously constructive and destructive; they mediate vulnerable populations’ urban realities while limiting the public character of cemeteries. I conclude that deathscape studies should pay equal attention to positive and negative sentiments in place-making. Additionally, I conclude that the current Colombian policy paradigm, which centers on attractive and ordered public cemeteries, fails to acknowledge the relevance of existing social practices. Evaluation of performances at cemeteries could contribute to the construction of more socially inclusive public spaces. Such planning considerations are relevant for unequal societies and public deathscapes more generally