After last year’s debut, 8 albe, an international exhibition dedicated to contemporary art with a focus on video art, returns from 1 to 29 August at Dimora delle Balze – an enchanted place in Noto, near Syracuse. With the title “Among the ripples: reflections of an oceanic history”, 8 albe presents four meetings throughout the month dedicated to the theme of water and the ocean, explored through languages ranging from documentary to fiction. The exhibition represents one of the most awaited events of the summer programming and confirms Sicily as an increasingly active land in the promotion of contemporary art.
Daniel García Andújar, “Juguete de los hados (Forced by the Fates)”, 2022. Video, single channel, audio, 6’25’’, courtesy of the artist
«The ocean is not just a mass of water that covers a large part of our planet» states curator Carolina Ciuti, a great expert in video art. «It is a symbol of immensity and mystery, a dimension that embodies the strength of nature and its capacity for regeneration and destruction. Culturally, the ocean has inspired myths, legends and narratives, serving as a metaphor for the unknown and the infinite. By exploring the ways in which it has been represented in the history of art and literature, contrasting visions emerge: on the one hand, a place of peace and reflection; on the other, theater of dangers and adventures. The ocean therefore represents a complex entity, a vast abyss that escapes univocal definitions. In a conceptual continuum with the past edition of 8 albe, this video review intends to explore it as a natural element, cultural device and stage for infinite exchanges».
Camila Beltrán, “Pacífico Oscuro”, video still, courtesy of the artist
Through a chorus of voices and artistic languages that combine documentary, essay, and fiction, 8 albe brings together different possible oceanic stories, inviting the viewer to consider not only their beauty, but also their mystery and challenges. The opening is entrusted to the short film This Is How We Walk On the Moon (27’20”) by Johanna Billing, an artist represented by the La Veronica gallery in Modica, followed by the conversation between the curator of 8 albe, Carolina Ciuti, and Giulia Civardi, writer and curator as well as manager of the Nicoletta Fiorucci Foundation collection. The evening concludes with the short film Pacifico Oscuro (10′) by Camila Beltrán shot by the Colombian artist in Cali in 2019. Selected in the Official Competition of the Locarno International Film Festival 2020, this work narrates a past in which women held pacts with mystical forces to master the art of singing. But, little by little, all the knowledge they got from their ancestors has been forgotten.
Aimée Zito Lema, “The Sea as Common Ground (From a Wave Point of View),” 2022. Video two channels, color, audio, 12’. Courtesy of the artist and tegeboschvanvreden
The programming will continue on 8 and 22 August with the works of internationally renowned artists such as Daniel G. Andújar (Almoradí, 1966) with El juguete de los hados, [The toy of fate], 2022. It is a single-channel video that shows a statue of Poseidon sailing the sea caged aboard Baya Rimes, a boat like many of those that reach the coasts of the Mediterranean every day. The video was made off the Balearic coast and presented on the occasion of the solo exhibition, Patente de Corso, at Es Baluard Museu d’Art Contemporani de Palma (Majorca). Followed by Julian Charrière (Morges, 1987) with Iroojrilik, 2016 and Aimée Zito Lema (Amsterdam, 1982) with The Sea as Common Ground (From a Wave Point of View), from 2022. Zito Lema often uses archive material as a starting point and inspiration for her projects. Born in Amsterdam and raised in Buenos Aires, the artist identifies strongly with the historical narratives of both countries. In this particular work, she explores various stories related to the seaside of Whitstable (UK). Drawing on interviews and archival documents from the Whitstable Museum, Zito Lema weaves together present and past accounts of episodes of interaction and solidarity between humans in complex circumstances such as floods, the struggle for maritime defence, the conquest of land (including sea shore and its economic exploitation) and the pressing issue of migration.
Basim Magdy, “No Shooting Stars”, 2016. Super 16mm and GIF animations, Full HD. 14 min.25 sec., courtesy of the artist
The Egyptian artist Basim Magdy (Assiut, 1977) with No Shooting Stars from 2016 addresses the theme of aquatic space which is present in most religious stories about creation and scientifically considered the source of life itself. However, once the role of water as a provider of life has been exhausted, terrestrial civilizations attach little or no importance to the oceans. Oceanic territory lies dormant at the edge of our awareness and does not enter the history books. Despite its vastness and importance, the ocean remains one of the least explored environments on the planet. Currently, it is estimated that only 5% of the seabed has been precisely mapped and studied. The seabed is a treasure trove of biodiversity and possesses invaluable natural resources, but it is also vulnerable to human activities and climate change. «The ocean is a vital element of our world» states Carolina Ciuti «a crossroads of cultures and a stage of human stories, but also a crucial indicator of the health of our politics and our planet».
Fito Conesa, “Anoxia. Un preludio costante”, 2023. HD video produced by Xarxa de Centers d’Arts Visuals de Catalunya, Cultural Department of the Generalitat de Catalunya, Santa Mònica and LOOP Barcelona, courtesy of the artist
Closing the event on Thursday 29 August will be the Spanish artist Fito Conesa (Cartagena, 1980) with the projection and performance Anoxia, a constant prelude, a 15-minute medium-length film that explores life below sea level. Produced by the artist in 2023 thanks to a prize awarded by the Departament de Cultura of the Generalitat de Catalunya, Anoxia, a constant prelude, narrates what happens in the bay of Portmán, located in Murcia, Spain. Ships sail the Mediterranean Sea, tracing intricate routes like someone drawing a series of points on a canvas, irreparably modifying the ecosystem, thanks to our inability to deal with change and negative news. In summary, the project highlights some of the most urgent problems of the Mediterranean Sea, offering a glimpse into a controversial coexistence and narrating future difficulties, while not giving up hope. The screening will be followed by a performance by Conesa together with opera singer Claudia Schneider (Roses), a member of Carles Santos’ company.
Info:
8 albe
Tra le increspature: riflessi di una storia oceanica
Video Art Program | Seconda edizione
curated by Carolina Ciuti
Dimora delle Balze, Noto 1 · 8 · 22 · 29 agosto 2024 ore 21.30
www.8albe.com
Emanuele Magri teaches History of Art in Milan. Since 2007 he has been writing abroad for Juliet art Magazine. Since the 1970s he has dealt with writing and visual arts. He created taxonomically defined worlds, in which he experimented with the self-referentiality of language, such as “La Setta delle S’arte” in which ritual clothes are made starting from words with multiple meanings, the “Treaty of genetic art” in which a series of plants is obtained from grafts of human organs, eyes, hands, mouths, etc., and the project “Fandonia”, a city where everything is double and hybrid.
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