TOCCO DI KALSA
PHOTOGRAPHS…
Un Tocco di Kalsa is a reportage I shot about the tradition of a popular drinking game largely played in Palermo’s Kalsa district by the working class.
The original point of this game is to drink in a circle of friends around the same table. The rules stipulate that the two main characters, "U padruni" and "u sutta" (The boss and his assistant ) actually decide which players have to drink or not, and in which order. When u’Padruni passes judgment, the only one who has got the power to modify his sentence is u’Sutta, by suggesting other orders or by opposing his view. The couple also holds the right to withdraw the whole bottle of beer or wine and drink it between themselves, but the real purpose of the game is to enjoy a drink with their friends, excluding the opposite gang who, at that point, are not able to quench their thirst. Certainly the game is amusing when played between friends, but it can also be cruel in that a table companion has to join in without drinking a single drop. This is also reinforced when the thirst is sharpened from eating savoury food which is consumed to absorb the alcohol. Since the dynamics of "Tocco" are based on hierarchy and decision-making, this game has also been used like a supreme court to solve outstanding disputes between two or more people of the same community. That is why very often, when there are two rival gangs at the same table, they are ready to fight, sometimes to the death, if the tension is too strong. As in all the games the Tocco will establish who wins and who loses, with the only difference that in this controversial tradition the outcome of the game confirms the reality of their life.
This story has been exhibited in the Spasimo oratory, Palermo July 2000.
A catalogue/book has been printed for the occasion.