26.06.2025 \\
Parrot Theory is a performance by Sergio Vega (1959, Buenos Aires) that takes the form of a lecture on what the artist defines as the “parrotization of culture” – or, in other words, the commodification and reproduction of knowledge and its transmission in a post-globalized world.
In a (Western) world driven by capital production, neoliberal economics, and post-capitalist consumer structures, even culture – including the fashion we wear, the food we eat, the places we travel to, the music we listen to, and ultimately the languages we speak – falls prey to commodification and standardization.
Through this lecture-performance, which seeks to explore the symbolic, historical, and cultural role of parrots – from being symbols of the exotic and icons of colonialism to allegories of a widespread contemporary condition – Sergio Vega delivers a lesson that unfolds along unexpected conceptual trajectories. By reflecting on the reproduction of culture as a caricature of itself, the Argentine artist critically challenges the methods, language, and meta-discursive claims surrounding the transmission of knowledge within contemporary institutions.
As Sergio Vega himself writes: “Rising from the ashes of the eagle, a rather uninteresting signifier after all, the parrot becomes an illuminating allegory: the rise of a global, postcolonial avant-garde forever changing the world into words, mirrors, and colors, as we speak…”
The performance will be held in Italian on the third floor of Fondazione Morra Greco at 5:30 p.m. on June 26. The event will last approximately one hour, including a Q&A session with the audience. A selection of the artist’s works will be on display for the occasion.
The project is co-financed with funds derived from Piano Strategico Cultura e Turismo 2024/2025 – Progetto Global Forum Mostre d’arte contemporanea EDI 2025.
Photos by Danilo Donzelli, Courtesy the artist and Galleria Umberto di Marino, Naples