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Emotions of the city preserved in the Secretissima Camera de Lo Core

A blue box containing a map of the city, a bookmark with a list of emotions, a few crayons and some sheets of drawing paper for you to record important places in your life. This is the starting point for the long journey of emotions, collected and preserved in the Atlas of the City’s Emotions. Over 300 of Matera’s residents, aged between10 and 80, have been given this box and asked to draw their own ‘emotional map’, identifying places in the city where significant emotional events in their lives have taken place. 300 residents, 300 emotional maps, 3,000 secrets: a first kiss, the route to school, a quarrel, the streets where their grandparents lived, places which are still there, have changed, or have disappeared.

On 23 and 24 March La Secretissima Camera de Lo Core was opened – a site-specific multisensory installation divided into different areas, where residents’ memories bring to life the soul of places. The Chamber, which is the first chapter in the project ‘Atlas of the City’s Emotions’, co-produced by the Teatro dei Sassi, is an innovative way of visiting the city. Secret tales of the city become the spark that illuminates Matera’s streets. The installation will remain open for any visitor with a Matera 2019 Passport until 31 July in the Library, where the cultural heritage of the city is stored.

Some important international partners have contributed to the project. The stories of the ‘emotional map makers’ have been read and adapted by the author Alessandro Baricco with young writers from the Holden School in Turin who, acting as a link between the life of the city and the feelings of its residents, have produced a fascinating and diverse collection of stories ‘from the heart’ of Matera.

Closely connected with the maps drawn by residents are 37 works by the artist Stefano Faravelli – well known for his travel log – and by a group of over 40 artists under his direction, half of whom are from Lucania.

During the inauguration of ‘La Secretissima Camera de Lo Core’ visitors were entertained by choreography designed by the German dancer and choreographer Heike Hennig, who was inspired by the emotional maps, the works by the artists who took part in the ‘apiaries’ directed by Faravelli, and the first stories of young writers from the Holden School.

The design of the Chamber is also the work of Paolo Baroni, who makes theatrical devices and artisan lighting, while the artistic director is Massimo Lanzetta of the Teatro dei Sassi.

The literary and artistic adaptation and the community that collected memories, secrets and stories, have together created a great ‘Mother Map’: an emotional itinerary through the city produced by Stefano Faravelli on rice paper, which describes 15 stages of a novel route including unusual features of Matera and contains the wonderful scroll written by Alessandro Baricco. From 2020, the ‘Mother Map’ will be produced in a pocket-sized format and distributed to visitors who want to follow the ‘emotional places’ route through the city. On returning home, visitors will find a moment to reflect on their experiences of the journey and share them on the Atlas website with all the other ‘emotional travellers’.

Circus+, The Big Numbers of the Festival

The Circus+ festival closes having achieved great interest and participation with the numbers saying it all. 5 weekends of shows dedicated to the 5 themes of the candidacy bid-book during which the Matera 2019 audience watched the most amazing and riveting circus shows in Europe.

23 international circus companies were involved along with 112 artists coming from 10 different countries and from the South of Italy, and 5 bands took turns on stage at both the Grand Chapiteau (Big Circus tent) and the Petit Chapiteau (Small Circus tent) from 14 February to 17 March.

A packed programme of sold out events  - 37 shows, 6 events including the presentation of a book and projections of films about the circus world as well as tens of shows with about 10,000 audience members who were welcomed heartily by 160 enthusiast volunteers. Moreover, Matera 2019 social media reported a huge number of reach and online engagement. Pictures, videos and the whole livestream of one of the performances reached 19,000 Facebook views, 3021 Linkedin views, and obtained 275 Instagram likes on average as well as 1594 views on the Youtube channel.

The artists used many traditional and unusual  tools and equipment, such as ropes, cords, trapezes,  fabrics, clubs, bolas, balls, ladders, spheres, Chinese plates, hats, magic ropes, mini bikes, rola bolas, roue cyrs, hula hoops, unicycles, Chinese poles, diabolos, comic balls, lampshades, spinning ropes, water hoses, plastic bags and whirling skirts.  

During the first weekend the first act named Circus as transformation was dedicated to Roots and Routes, the theme of the candidacy bid-book that links tradition to its contemporary forms. The shows are the outcome of the contamination of different cultures and disciplines melting with performing arts, which range from dance to theatre.

Two couples of artists, with different knowledge and vocations, performed in an avant-garde synthesis. The actor and performer Antonio Rezza and the artist and author Flavia Mastrella, the Uruguayan aerial acrobat Fabiana Ruiz Diaz and the Italian multidisciplinary artist Giacomo Costantini of the company El Grito took turn on stage.

Water, wind and other natural elements were the protagonists of the shows of the second act, Circus as transition, dedicated to Utopias and Dystopias, the theme of the change. This week, Phia Menard, who gave two performances, and the dervish Ziya Azazi also dominated the circus stage.

During the third weekend, the third act named Circus as aggregation  was dedicated to the theme of Continuity and Disruptions and we set up gymnastics shows  in which the tools were works of art and merged with the artists. Three international artists stepped up: the French Cécile Mont Reynaud, the Italian  Martina Nova and the German Jorg Muller followed by the Belgian Clown Duo Okidok.

The team spirit that characterises the best circus groups was the focus of the fourth act titled Circus as collaboration. The artists demonstrated mastering arts and disciplines which require coordination and overall view. It was a reminder of the collective intelligence in order to challenge human abilities. The show by Groupe Acrobatique de Tanger, which is made up of 12 acrobats and 2 musicians from Morocco, defies the law of gravity in collective and exhilarating acrobatics whilst the Forum Nuovi Circhi gathered almost all the Italian Contemporary Circus companies: Circo Paniko, MagdaClan Circo, Side Kunst Cirque, Circo Zoé, Arterego, Circo Krom, Circo Patuff, Teatro Nelle Foglie, L'Iglù and Circo Baraka with 46 elements overall.

In Circus as innovation, which is the fifth act linked to the theme of Ancient Future, circus tradition was challenged through the contamination of arts by five out-of-control acrobats/dancers The Black Blues Brothers, Mister David and The Family DEM and El Grito.

See the pictures of all the performances and the video tale of the whole Circus +.

European Circostrada Network and European CircusNext Label collaborated to Circus+ .

Circus+ is supported by the Embassy of France and the Institut Français.

Call for Artists - we are looking for the protagonists of Cavalleria Rusticana

Update 27 June 2019

The results of the Call for Artists are available online. 

Inhabiting the Opera is a project co-produced with one of the oldest theatres in the world, the Theatre San Carlo in Naples, which intends to stage “Cavalleria Rusticana” by Pietro Mascagni in the heart of the Sassi districts from 2nd August to 11th August.

Experimenting with a new model for culture production and valorisation, citizens will be involved in this project that is mainly focused on strengthening cultural citizenship and direct community participation.

The Opera will be performed outdoors and the audience will be engaged in writing the script of the Opera that will be set in a contemporary context.

The itinerant performance will be made up of two parts. In the first part the protagonists will be involved in choirs, collective dances and theatre actions in a "Prologue on the Sassi" titled ‘THE SEVEN CAPITAList SINS. The disasters caused by Neoliberism”. During the second part the real performance of the Opera by Mascagni, directed by Giorgio Barberio Corsetti, will be staged in the beautiful setting of Piazza San Pietro Caveoso dominated by the Church of Santa Maria di Idris.

Actors, dancers, parkourers and street dancers are invited to apply for the development of the Prologue for the creation of the Opera.

Applicants should email their CVs and a self-introduction video by 7th April. The auditions to select the candidates will be held at the Theatre San Carlo of Naples from 13th April to 14th April. The selected artists will attend two workshops in Matera. The first workshop will be held from  22th April to 30th April for a further selection of artists. The second workshop will be held from 17th June to 22nd June.

The artists selected during the two workshops will take part in the rehearsals and in the performance planned from 3rd July to 11th August.

Details about the application are available in the transparent administration section of our website. During the auditions the director will give further information about the artistic performance.