POST ROMANTIC EMPIRE IS A MULTIMEDIA PROJECT
WHICH AIMS AT REPRESENTING THE EVOLUTION AND THE INTERPRETATION OF ROMANTIC THEMES AND MOTIFS IN CONTEMPORARY CULTURE.


PRE WAS CREATED ON 2003 BY GIULIO DI MAURO, AND DURING THE LAST TEN YEARS THE CONCEPT GAVE BIRTH TO A RECORDING LABEL, AN ARTIST BOOKING AGENCY, A WEBZINE AND A MUSIC FESTIVALS ORGANIZATION.
THE FINAL SHAPE OF THE POST ROMANTIC EMPIRE IS A PHOTOGRAPHIC BOOK AND A PUBLISHING COMPANY FOCUSED ON POST ROMANTIC THEMES.

THE POST ROMANTIC EMPIRE BOOK IS MADE OF A INTRODUCTORY TEXT AIMING TO DEFINE THE CONCEPT AND OF TWO PHOTOGRAPHIC GALLERIES.
THE FIRST GALLERY IS MADE OF ARTISTS' PORTRAITS (SEE A SELECTION BELOW), WHILE THE SECOND ONE IS DEDICATED TO LANDSCAPES.

THE POST ROMANTIC EMPIRE CONCEPT THAT MUSIC IS, AS WELL AS BEING EQUAL TO CERTAIN USES OF LANGUAGE, ALSO THE EXPRESSION OF SENSIBILITY.
THE HISTORY OF CULTURE IS THEREFORE THE HISTORY OF HUMAN SENSIBILITY.
THE SOCIAL TRANSFORMATIONS DURING THE SECOND HALF OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY IN EUROPE, NORTH AMERICA (AND IN THOSE COUNTRIES THAT WERE CULTURALLY INFLUENCED BY THE WESTERN CONTINENTS) CHANGED THE POLITICAL GROUND AND SO THE SELF-CONSCIOUSNESS OF OUR EMOTIONAL BEHAVIOURS AROSE DRAMATICALLY. THE SUBSEQUENT ROMANTIC REVOLUTION IS A PERIOD THAT HISTORY BOOKS PLACE BETWEEN THE MID-EIGHTEENTH AND THE MID-NINETEENTH CENTURY - BUT ONE CAN SEE HOW THIS REVOLUTION WAS TOO DEEP TO BE LIMITED TO JUST ONE GENERATION. FOR THE FIRST TIME AN INNER REVOLUTION REACHED EVERY SOCIAL STRATUM, PENETRATED THROUGH BORDERS AND INFLUENCED THOUGHTS AND ACTIONS - HAPPENING SIMULTANEOUSLY IN POLITICS, PHILOSOPHY, AND IN ALL OTHER ARTISTIC EXPRESSIVE FORMS.
THE SUMMARY OF THE POST ROMANTIC EMPIRE RATIONALE IS A STATEMENT: MAN IS A ROMANTIC BEING: ROMANTICISM IS A PERMANENT CONDITION AND ITS ROOTS BURROW THROUGH INTO THE INNER HISTORY OF MAN.

ANYTHING THAT HAS COME AFTER THE ROMANTIC REVOLUTION IS COLOURED BY ROMANTICISM BECAUSE IT HAPPENS IN A REVOLUTIONIZED SOCIETY. ANYTHING EXPRESSING UNBRIDLED PASSION, HIGH SENSIBILITY, RATIONAL AND IRRATIONAL EMOTIONALISM, IS ROMANTIC JUST AS MUCH AS THAT WHICH IMPLIES ABNEGATION, DEDICATION, AND SACRIFICE. UNDER SUCH A LIGHT A TERRORIST IS LIKE A PRIEST, A MUSICIAN LIKE HIS/HER FANS, OR LIKE A POET.

HOW TO ASSEMBLE AN EMPIRE:
OUR INTERPRETATION OF THE ROMANTIC CULTURAL SYSTEM ESTABLISHES A
CONNECTION BETWEEN POETRY AND SONG THROUGH A COMPARATIVE CRITICAL ANALYSIS. THE SO-CALLED "EMPIRE" IS ALSO THE ENSEMBLE OF SPECIFIC ARTISTS AND THEIR ARTISTIC WORK: NUMEROUS MUSICAL GENRES ARE TAKEN INTO CONSIDERATION TO IDENTIFY AS REPRESENTATIVE MEMBERS OF POST-ROMANTICISM THOSE ARTISTS ENDOWED OF A "POST-ROMANTIC FEELING". THIS "POST-ROMANTIC FEELING" REFERS TO THE SPECIFIC AESTHETICS OF THE ARTISTS THAT WE HAVE DEFINED AS BEING PART OF THE 'POST ROMANTIC EMPIRE'. THIS PROJECT DIFFERS FROM OTHER EDITORIAL PROJECTS ON CONTEMPORARY MUSIC INASMUCH AS IT DOES NOT DOCUMENT AN EXISTING MUSIC CATEGORY: RATHER, IT CONSIDERS PERCEPTION AND EMOTION MORE THAN CATEGORIES AND LABELS. IT IS A STUDY ON CULTURE, BUT WITH AN EMOTIONAL AND ‘PHOTOGRAPHIC’ APPROACH AND A WHOLE GALLERY DEDICATED TO THE ROMANTIC DOUBLE BIND BETWEEN MAN AND NATURE.

POST ROMANTIC EMPIRE IS PRIMARILY A STUDY ON THE TRANSFORMATIONS AND INFLUENCES OF THE ROMANTIC AESTHETIC IN CONTEMPORARY CULTURAL INDUSTRY. THE PERVASIVENESS OF THE ROMANTIC IS A RIDDLE BUT RISING TREND IN POST-INDUSTRIAL SOCIETY AND LIFE-STYLES. IT IS POSSIBLE TO CATCH THE SIGNS OF THIS TREND IN DIFFERENT YET STILL CONNECTED AREAS OF CULTURAL PRODUCTION SUCH AS MUSIC, POETRY, VISUAL ARTS, DESIGN, FASHION, CINEMA, TELEVISION AND LITERATURE. PRE HAS TRIED TO MAP THE SPREAD OF THESE ROMANTIC FEATURES INSIDE AND OUTSIDE OURSELVES, AS WELL AS PROMOTING THE NEED FOR OUR REPORT IN THOSE SAME SCENES WE WERE INVESTIGATING. OUR METHOD OF OBSERVING DIRECTLY AS A PARTICIPANT ALSO MEANT A PARTICIPATION IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF SEMANTIC FIELDS IN UNDERGROUND CULTURES. THAT IS THE REASON WHY WE SOON DECIDED TO ORGANIZE CONCERTS IN ORDER TO GET IN TOUCH WITH THOSE ARTISTS WE WERE INTERESTED IN - WORKING WITH THEM TO BUILD A PERMANENT CONNECTION - AND FINALLY TO START A RECORDING LABEL (PRECORDINGS). THE ORGANISATION OF LIVE EVENTS LED US TO WORK ALSO AS BOOKING AGENTS AND TOUR MANAGERS REGULARLY FOR THE ENGLISH CULT BAND CURRENT93 AND OCCASIONALLY FOR OTHER ARTISTS, AND TESTED AND DEVELOPED OUR CONCEPT WITH OTHER EXOTIC AND ESOTERIC ACTIVITIES SUCH AS RAVE PARTIES (DEFINED AS "CLASSIX 90'S TECHNO PARTIES"), PSYCHIC GUERRILLA TEA ROOMS ("DEAD LOUNGE") AND ART VERNISSAGES. ACCORDINGLY, OUR PRODUCTION OF THE POSTERS AND OTHER MATERIAL CONNECTED WITH THE VISUAL PROMOTION, AS WELL AS THE MERCHANDISING, FOLLOWS HIGH PRODUCTION STANDARDS TO REFLECT THE QUALITY OF THE CONCEPTUAL CONTENTS. PRE ATTEMPTS TO DESTROY THE OLD CATEGORIES OF MUSICAL OR JOURNAILISTICI CLASSIFICATION, REFUSING TO ACCEPT THEM IN ORDER TO SYNTHETIZE WESTERN CULTURE INTO PRE'S ROMANTIC, ROMANTICIZED OR NON-ROMANTIC VISION...

PRE STATES THAT EVERYTHING IS ROMANTIC.
POST INDICATES WHAT COMES FROM - NOT WHAT COMES AFTER.
POST ROMANTIC IS THE REALITY WE ARE EXPERIENCING, AND IS A LENS WITH WHICH TO OBSERVE MORE VIVIDLY.