Occitan culture told in 5 artistic residences in the Grana and Maira valleys

WEDGE CHRONICLE – From Tuesday 28 June to Sunday 3 July the five artistic residences of the “Beica ben! Enhance and tell the Occitan identity of the Grana and Maira valleys “promoted by the Municipality of Caraglio (lead body) and by the Filatoio Rosso di Caraglio Foundation, the Municipality of Celle di Macra, the Espaci Occitan Association, the La Cevitou Association and the Floema Cooperative to deepen and promote the cultural, naturalistic and landscape heritage and the tourist offer of the Grana and Maira valleys and, in particular, the Occitan cultural identity that unites the two territories.

The artistic residences, curated by the art critic Olga Gambari, involve Lavinia Raccanello in relation to the Ecomuseum of the Alta Valle Maira in the territories of Celle di Macra and Macra; Tommaso Rinaldi, aka High files, at the Sòn de Lenga – Espaci Occitan Museum in Dronero, Saverio Todaro at the Terra del Castelmagno Ecomuseum in Monterosso Grana, Silvia Capiluppi at the Filatoio in Caraglio, while LabPerm at the “Acqua Viva” Biopark in Caraglio. At the end of the summer, in the same places as the residences, a traveling event will be held for restitution to the public, with the presentation of the works that the artists have created. Works that will mix artistic languages ​​and practices, from sculpture to sound, video and performance, with a 360 ° look at what is the most contemporary art scene in progress.

The project was carried out with the support of the Compagnia di San Paolo Foundation as part of the call for proposals «In luce. Enhance and tell the cultural identities of the territories “of the Mission Create attractiveness of the Culture Objective, which aims at the cultural and creative enhancement of the territories of Piedmont, Liguria and Valle d’Aosta, making them more usable and attractive for the people who live there and for the tourists, with a view to social and economic sustainable development. “The Maira and Grana Valleys are a soul with different souls – explains the curator Olga Gambari – A unity made up of plurality, specificity of a richness declined in several voices, which together give back a unique landscape to be discovered and deepened, to which interpretation by contemporary art can give sounds and forms for empathic narratives with the public. The residences want to bring attention and give life to open readings that dialogue with the inhabitants of the valleys themselves and with the tourists who will visit them “.

The “Beica Ben” project focuses on the need to activate approaches and methods to create cultural insights and a tourist offer characterized by the Occitan tradition that are effective in addressing, first of all, sweet, responsible and sustainable tourism targets and involving the territory not at the level of a single site but as a whole, including economic operators and civil fabric. One of the objectives is to connect the offer of infrastructures and services of the various cultural sites to increase their energy efficiency and environmental sustainability, as well as to network the various places with the rest of the outdoor, hospitality and commercial tourism system. The artistic residences will also make it possible to enhance cultural sites through a participatory and shared path between local communities and external artists to build an effective storytelling strategy.

The artists and the female artists

Lavinia Raccanello | Ecomuseum of the Upper Maira Valley in Celle di Macra

Lavinia Raccanello is an Italian artist and sculptress whose practice focuses on the relationship between human beings, society and social justice, with particular emphasis on the power of dialectical and participatory practice and the conflict between state power and autonomy and personal responsibility. With a background in European and transnational law, Lavinia graduated with honors in Painting and Visual Arts in 2012 with an investigation into civil disobedience and resistance in the arts. Since 2011, her work has been exhibited in group exhibitions in Italy, Spain, the United States, India, Chile, United Kingdom, Finland, Portugal, Mexico, Austria, Switzerland and France, as well as solo exhibitions in Glasgow, New York, Turin. , Milan and Romainmôtier. He has also taken part in numerous artist residency programs at the Spinola Banna per l’Arte Foundation (Italy), Many Studio Graduate Residency Program (United Kingdom), Flux Factory (United States), Many Mini Residency (Mexico), De Liceiras 18 (Porto, Portugal), Scottish Sculpture Workshop (UK), Summer School of Engaged Art (Germany) and Arc Artist Residency (Switzerland). laviniaraccanello.it.

Tommaso Rinaldi, aka High Files Visuals | Sòn de Lenga / Espaci Occitan Museum

Tommaso Rinaldi, aka High Files, visual artist, techno performer, vj. He works as a visual artist and stage designer with the most important musical event organizations in Turin and Alessandria. After studying scenography at the Albertina Academy of Fine Arts in Turin he specialized in Live Cinema Performance and Vj set, Videomapping, and Digital Dramaturgy. Since 2016 he has participated in international Visual Art Festivals such as LPM Live Performers Meeting, Pomezia Light Festival, Genius Loci Weimar, RGB Light Experience and winning the VJ ART category in the videomapping contest of the Odessa Light Fest 2017. He is currently a professor of Dramaturgy Multimedia at the Alma Artist Academy of Pisa. instagram.com/highfilesvisuals.

Saverio Todaro | Terra del Castelmagno Ecomuseum in Monterosso Grana

Saverio Todaro, born in Bern, resides in Turin where he studied at the Liceo Artistico and at the Academy of Fine Arts in the course of Sculpture. Inspired by the codes of biology and communication, he began exhibiting typewriters, cut tables and steel DNA in the early nineties. Currently his research is attracted by the scenarios that emerge from the global connection and the control he exercises over the world: the management of knowledge, the identity of the subject, social relations, economics, religion, the history that man today writes in the ether. saveriotodaro.com

Silvia Capiluppi | The Filatoio di Caraglio

Silvia Capiluppi is an artist, architect, naturopath and yoga teacher. For years she has been carrying out a great project in progress, inclusive and community, aimed at creating sheets embroidered with red thread that bear names, thoughts, signs. Common diaries of past and present, where the threads of the stories are intertwined in a great collective story and in open writing. People near and far are invited to embroider their name and a graphic sign on white sheets with red thread. From this, many other workshop projects have germinated. Embroidery as a practice of sharing and meditation is a sort of collective prayer that has its roots in ancient activities common to different cultures in the world. The same common thread is often found in different contexts for practical and ritual uses. lenzuolisospesi.com

LabPerm | Biopark “Acqua Viva” of Caraglio

LabPerm, which was founded in ’97 by Domenico Castaldo and which is based in the former Cemetery of San Pietro in Vincoli in Turin, today presents itself as a group of five actors (Domenico Castaldo, Ginevra Giachetti, Marta Laneri, Rui Alber Padul and Natalia Sangiorgio). In addition to the original productions, the LabPerm group is the founder of LUPA Free University on the Person in Harmony, a free university (in expansion) which promotes a multiplicity of teachings on the art of the actor and which involves a multiplicity of teachers (writers and poets, actors, theater historians, psychologists). An idea of ​​popular theater according to which popular art cannot fail to be a solid example of truth, humanity and sometimes of spirituality. “The word people gives an idea of ​​humanity and simplicity, of union, of people linked by intent, who know how to respect each other, who respect an ethic”. Graduated from the Teatro Stabile of Turin in ’93, Domenico Castaldo worked from ’95 to ’97 at the Pontedera Workcenter with Jerzy Grotowsky and Thomas Richards. www.labperm.it.

She is an independent curator, art critic and journalist. You have collaborated since 1996 with the newspaper La Repubblica and with Il Giornale dell’Arte, you have collaborated for fifteen years with the Flash Art magazine. You were the director in charge of the artesera.it editorial project. Since 2013 she has been the artistic director of The Others Art Fair for three editions. Since 2015 she has been the artistic director of the international independent art network NESXT. You directed Paratissima in 2021. You have developed dozens of curatorial projects for private spaces and public institutions. You are a teacher at the IED – European Institute of Design. You have worked with many young artists as well as with historical, Italian and international names. The idea of ​​art as a place for multidisciplinary experimentation, a laboratory of practices and public space at the center of her research and planning.



Occitan culture told in 5 artistic residences in the Grana and Maira valleys – Cuneocronaca.it