Napoli fans have seen it all… The current champions of Italy endured 33 years of pain before finally securing their 3rd Scudetto at the end of the 2022-23 season, a stretch going right back to the days of their celebrated icon Diego Maradona.
Naples is a passionate city – passionate people – and hugely passionate football supporters – all evident in the plethora of murals declaring their love for Napoli, the tattoos and street art dedicated to El Diego (as Maradona is affectionately known), and the splashes of Napoleon blue that are everywhere to see.
A dedicated fan, photographer and resident of the city, Daniele Carrano‘s new photo zine on Naples focuses on the years running up to the death of Diego Maradona, the passing of the Argentine and outpouring of grief, and then finally, Napoli once again being crowned Champions of Italy.
Here, Daniele talks through his new project…
L’Urlo del Ciuccio (The Scream of the Pacifier) is my new zine. It is a photographic and personal narrative that starts from 2017, with the historic murals of the Maradona years up to his death and the 3rd Scudetto.
There are more than 70 photos in the zine, analysing the evolution of the city, the relationship between football, street art and tourism, and the emotion of winning a 3rd Scudetto.
In 2018, I named my first Zine “The Scream of the Donkey” inspired by an old graffiti I found in the eastern suburbs of Naples, imagining a scream full of joy, but pride most of all.
That same pride I have always found in the words of Neapolitans – citizens and fans – ready to defend their territory while at the same time recognising its limitations and problems.
Before today, it seemed that Naples had to live from memories alone, handed down from generation to generation. Memories that lit up the eyes of those who did not experience the times of Maradona, but still felt that he was a part of their family.
Who loves does not forget, and the memory of the blue number 10 is still very much alive today. In fact, when Diego passed, the collective desire to remember the 2 Scudetti and his history re-emerged stronger than ever. Compared to the ‘90s, however, society has changed. Naples has changed.
The rise of Street Art has covered the city with grand Maradonian murals, but hasn’t prevented more spontaneous and less visible gestures to spring up as well.
Across the city Street Art has played an important role in the evolution of historic quarters such as Forcella, Quartieri Spagnoli and Rione Sanità. From the first murals created by local associations and other groups, there was a shift to the autonomous organisation of citizens and shopkeepers motivated by decorating their streets, rather than attracting spectators and tourists, but nothing to do with the spontaneity of a fundraiser among fellow citizens or illegal works of art.
For some years now I have been loyally positioned in the Curva B with my father. A precious paternal moment, but also an expression of our shared Neapolitan pride, driven to don the jersey by a shared historical-cultural sense of belonging, even more than our interest in football.
The pillars of the team have changed, but the heart still beats for them. New faces in the jersey and new doubts about the expense of the season tickets, but the sense of belonging and the will to experience new emotions is strong. Why not dream?
A new year, the usual Curva B, and the usual weekends in Fuorigrotta. Getting a season ticket means building a new family. A family made up of strangers to embrace at every goal, new faces that gradually become familiar, with whom to share joy and sorrow. Faces that I will always remember, like the season we lived together.
“I’m not ready” is the phrase I repeat to myself after every game. Years of imagining all of this and now it’s really going to happen, but how is it possible? The city shows itself to be much more ready than me, because as early as March the decoration starts. A slap in the face for any kind of superstition.
Since the first two titles, Naples has not only been changed by Street Art and mass tourism, as written before, but also the immigration of various peoples from the Middle East, Asia, Eastern Europe and Africa. People, first of all, who became fascinated by the Neapolitan love for Azzurri, loving it in turn.
Naples has changed but at the same time it’s as if it has never changed. Rather it has adapted, without corrupting itself, into a new period of jubilation. As it did in the past, but today in new and more modern ways.
Many newspapers speak of redemption, continuing the plaintive narrative of the Neapolitan, the eternal second. But that is not the case today. Naples does not need to redeem itself. We do not need to be redeemed from the rich history and culture we grow up, in fact we are proud to be Neapolitans and don’t need to prove anything to anyone.
The real problem is more deep-rooted. Naples needs to find how to live and not merely to survive.
In recent weeks, talking to my fellow Neapolitans there has not been one person who did not refer to our rich shared history, as you can also see reflected in the many decorations around the city. There were those who pointed out that thanks to the Scudetto the city is eating, surviving. But the problem is that in Naples we are only surviving. Our many factories closed a long time ago, there is little work and if there is it’s underpaid.
Pick up your copy here.
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