Dal 9 al 12 novembre 2017, noi della cooperativa “Il Sicomoro” siamo andati in Germania a conoscere la “Silent University” di Ruhr grazie al programma Go&See della Fondazione Matera-Basilicata 2019.

Come Sicomoro siamo project leader per Matera-Basilicata 2019 di un programma che mette insieme migranti, rifugiati e comunità locale, università e formazione tecnica, creatività e arte pubblica, all’insegna di valori come la dignità umana, l’identità della persona e l’inclusione sociale.

Nel parco del Ringlokschuppen Ruhr, ente dalla cui iniziativa nasce la Silent University di Mülheim

Nel museo della Camera Oscura di Mulheim, una delle più grandi al mondo. Qui ritratto uno degli esempi di sovrapposizione di piani che amplifica la visione prospettica.

Qualcosa su cui The Silent University lavora già da diversi anni. Nello specifico la prima Silent University nacque a Londra nel 2012 su iniziativa dell’artista kurdo Ahmet Ögüt, nella cooperazione fra la Tate Gallery e la Delfina Foundation. Da allora si sono aperte nuove sedi in tutto il mondo, da Stoccolma e Amburgo ad Amman e Atene, fino all’inaugurazione nel 2015 della Silent University di Ruhr a Mülheim.

Siamo dunque andati a scoprire più da vicino di cosa si trattasse.

L’ingresso della Dezentrale, il luogo a Mülheim in cui ha sede la Silent University di Ruhr

Logo della Silent University di Ruhr

La Silent University nasce come una piattaforma indipendente online basata sullo scambio di conoscenze da e per i rifugiati, i richiedenti asilo e gli immigrati. L’obiettivo è riattivare le conoscenze e le competenze dei partecipanti che non sono in grado di utilizzare il proprio background accademico a causa dello stato di residenza in un paese diverso da quello d’origine. La piattaforma offre dunque un programma accademico con conferenze, discussioni, ecc. Per la Silent University il silenzio e la lentezza sono i valori costituenti, gli stessi che la accomunano con la visione Open Future di Matera 2019, gli stessi con cui noi del Sicomoro ogni giorno fondiamo il nostro lavoro.

A Mülheim abbiamo avuto il piacere di incontrare la coordinatrice e il consulente della Silent University di Ruhr, Kirsten Ben Haddou e Justin Fonkeu, e abbiamo partecipato ad uno dei loro eventi, il vernissage della mostra “C’era una volta in Siria”.

Locandina della mostra “Es war einmal in Syrien”



Conferenza di presentazione alla mostra

Stefania Dubla e Marta Schiavone, le nostre portavoce a Mülheim, hanno discusso a lungo con loro, confrontandosi sui punti di forza e di debolezza dell’iniziativa nella prospettiva di replicarla a Matera e in Basilicata per il 2019.

“The Silent University Ruhr – dicono Kirsten e Justin – is located in the center of Mülheim on the edge of the pedestrian zone. Known as the Dezentrale, and already established as the site for a variety of artistic and social projects in the past, it has an open door policy. It’s place where people in the city can meet. A place where knowledge which has been silenced can be heard once again”.

La cosa più bella è stato conoscere e vedere con i nostri occhi lo spirto di quest’iniziativa, il senso di appartenenza nell’incontro fra mondi lontani che diventano una sola cultura.

Ringraziamo allora Kirsten e Justin, per il fruttuoso incontro. Torneremo presto a Mülheim. Intanto, avanti tutta verso la co-creazione della più bella delle capitali!

Vista di Mulheim

29th August: Matera
We reach Naples because tomorrow we leave from Capodichino to reach Stefano Faravelli in Turin.

30th August: Turin.
We meet Faravelli. His house inspires us with solutions for the ‘camera secretissima de lo core'. Stefano listens very carefully, then shows us some of his emotional maps. We agree upon everything, we take note of critical issues, too. We say goodbye holding three of his maps in our hands as if to say that we have already started working together.

August 31st: Berlin
We leave from Bergamo and in an hour and a half we are in Berlin. Andrea, kind soul for us, comes to pick us up at the airport and takes us to his house. That afternoon we go to the Radial system V,seat of the Sasha WalzCompany, to meet her art director, as well as her husband, Jochen Sandig. First, he wants to show us their work space: just great. After the long interesting visit to their place, Jochen leads us outside where, around a coffee table, we start telling about our project. As soon as Matera is mentioned, Jochen nicefully requests a long digression about the town and the Sassi, surfing the Internet with his mobile, as if he needs to be sure that what we are describing is real ... Even with his great ability in digressing Jochen is very interested in the project and immediately shows his understanding of it. He has taken notes of everything and asks to know the possible dates for the next meetings as soon as possible. He tells us that he immediately wants to report to Sasha Walz the contents of our meeting and agrees to submit by 15th September their commitment to the project together with the broad economic proposal, the hypothesis of co-financing and also the best period for their participation. We suggest the following: 1-a couple of workshops aimed at ordinary people,not at professional dancers, held in 2018 by Sasha Walz together with at least 4 dancers from her company; 2- to perform,with her dancers and the participants to the workshops, at least five short stories to be told through dancing in an equal number of places in the city of Matera in 2018; 3-to be present at the crash tests planned in 2018; 4-to perform the 5 stories with 5 mini-choreographies for two consecutive weeks in 2019.                                                        
Before leaving, we remind each other that we will meet again later that night to see the show 'Women’ by Sasha Waltz at the festival “Tanz Im August” and also the next morning to meet Sasha Walz after taking part to a virtual reality experiment precisely on the show ‘Women’.

1^st September - Berlin
At 1.30 p.m. we meet AlessioTrevisani in front of the restaurant Oxymoron, Rosenthaler Str. 40-41, a beautiful road full of buildings which were restored after the fall of the Wall. We are on time but he is already there. We settle in and begin a business lunch. Alessio immediately looks like a gentleman: speaking of ideas for our ‘Atlante’ he tells us about angels and about his desire to make the authors of the stories dance. Around 15th September he will also send us the project proposal and financial plan. He will ask his theatre in Leipzig for a possible co-financing.

1^st September - Berlin: Meeting with Heike Hennig, choreographer from Leipzig.
In the afternoon of September 1st we meet Heike Hennig in a café. She is from Leipzig and is half an hour late: in a message she describes a huge unexpected traffic jam. She arrives with a bright smile on her face and apologizes. She is with her husband, a big man who turns out to be shy and nice. We get straight into the heart of the matter and we tell her about the project, Andrea Villani, our good soul from Berlin, translates every German phrase. She often nods and,as we speak, she shows us some photos and brochures that she brought with her, as if to stress the fact that our project tells about people, methods and ideas that already belong to her. Indeed it does look just like that and we feel we have found a potential great workmate. At the end, before we say goodbye, she brings out a box of chocolates and gives it us as a present. We greet each other reminding her our mutual commitments, but with big hugs and smiles.

1^st September - Berlin: "Women" by Sasha Walz
At 9:00 p.m.,at St. Elisabeth-Kirche, a deconsecrated church, we watch the show ' Women’ by Sasha Walz. After that, the choreographer joins us for greetings and for asking further details about our project.

2^nd September - Berlin: Virtual Women.
As promised, in the morning of 2nd September we go back to the church where the night before we watched the show ‘Women’ by Sasha Walzthe. There we watch a 30-minute virtual version of the same show. At 12 o'clock we, along with about twenty people, are invited by the technical staff to wear special glasses, which have a cell phone instead of lenses. In the scene that we see there are the women sitting around four tables arranged in a square. The prospect of vision is central: we are in the middle and the dancers sitting around us that act and dance. They invite us to get up and move in that space. We have a 360-degree view so that, when we move our head or turn back, we see exactly what happens behind us. At the end, we think about the sensations felt and we agree that the augmented reality we imagine for our project does not exactly match what we've seen and felt this morning.

2^nd September - Berlin: we meet the Grape shade
Our last meeting before reluctantly leaving Berlin is with a member of the Grapes hade, a group of ‘tough’ dancers on the up-to-date Berlin scene. We liked them on you-tube during a long surfing on the Net looking for new trends in European dance. The representative of the group listens to the translation by our exhausted good-soul Andrea and constantly takes notes. When we speak of co-financing, he tells us that also in Berlin the Ministry of Culture has recently been asking artists for a 20% co-financing on each proposed project. Groups like them-he explains- aren’t able to work with local authorities any more, precisely because they can't support that 20%. Anyway, he seems interested in our project, but he says he needs to talk about it with the others in the group. In any case, they will write to us by the deadline. After this, our meetings with German artists are finished. Tomorrow we leave to Verona, to Padua and then to the Venice BIENNALE!

3rd September - Rovereto, at the ‘Oriente Occidente’ Festival
We say goodbye to Berlin and Andrea. We take a flight to Verona and then a train to Rovereto. In the early afternoon we meet Paul Manfrini, one of the two artistic directors of the festival. They are interested in participating in our project and they suggest us to go to the Mart and see the exhibition by Salvo Lombardi, performer and choreographer, who has used augmented reality. If his work were to be interesting to us, says Manfrini, the Festival might consider his presence in Matera as some form of co-financing. They also ask if it could be possible to make a further 'stage ' after 2019 in Rovereto. So, we go and see the exhibition by Lombardi: it seems interesting but we can't imagine a version for our project. At 6.00p.m. we watch the show on the terraces of the Mart: OSCYL VARIATION by the French company of Eric Lamoureux and Héla Fattoumi. In the evening we go to the theatre to watch Lutz Forster and we are fascinated and moved.

4^th September - Padua, towards the ART BIENNALE
In Padua we join Marco at his home, where he will host us during our two-day visit scheduled in Venice for the BIENNALE. Our good soul from Padua shows us the city and relieves our exhaustion.

5th September - Venice, Biennale, Arsenale
We spend two days at the Biennale in Venice, starting from the Arsenal: we find many ideas for our project. Many thanks to Ariane for having recommended this visit. How many books, how many maps!

6th September – Venice Biennale, Gardens
A great part of this section also seemed very interesting. We were especially fascinated by the Russian and Japanese pavilions, but many others really deserve a visit.

7th September, Turin - meeting with Alessandro Baricco at the Scuola Holden
We are back in Turin, this time to meet Alessandro Baricco and the people in charge of the Scuola Holden. We are impressed by the beauty of the building. Alessandro walks towards us along the corridor on the first floor with Marta, his assistant. His kindness makes us feel immediately relaxed. While sitting around a table Luciana explains our project in detail: both Alexander and the director of the Scuola Holden really like it. Alessandro intends to oversee the work done by three or four very talented graduates of the school, including young people coming from the South of Italy, who would be in Matera for two or three weeks to analyse stories, to meet the authors of maps and maybe to helping us even collect stories so that they would have an insight of how the people and the city are. Alessandro tells us that he has to finish his latest book by May, so he could start working by June; anyway he promises that he will be with us in Matera for a week in March, after the collection of maps will be completed. We also ask him to plan an overall idea of narrative drama. By 15th September, as we requested, the school will make a proposal specifying whether and which co-financing they plan to adopt. This brings our go&see to an end. We are very tired but really happy.

Teatro dei Sassi

Our go&see took us to Copenhagen to meet two international experts in l.a.r.p. (live roleplaying games) in order to see how they work and start a discussion on our project. It was a very busy and fruitful 5- day working session, which made us fly to the Danish capital from Matera as well as from Pavia, from Poland, from Sweden and Finland.

The weather was gloomy and the temperature was not exactly the one we are used to in summer but, after all, we had to work. After stopping over in Naples for a conversation with the President, we spent the first European day sharing opinions on several issues related to the project. Then, two experts in larp arrived and we went straight to the heart of the discussion.

Sergio explained the objectives of the project and the steps outlined by the Foundation, in addition to the assumptions about the outputs. Then, two producers took the floor: Bjarke Pedersen told us about various larps he performed and explained the different technical aspects, targets and organizational features. He addressed the issue of the locations and the various practical options between sets, which may be either closed or blocked off, and larps, which involve people. Then, he presented his latest creation, the hamlet.

After that, we listened to Mike Pohjola, producer of larp and other transmedia experiences. And, in order to understand how a larp works/is carried out, he guided us on a 3-hour tutorial.

The last sessions of our tour included a discussion on the possibility to cooperate and details on the production costs of a larp and on the technical profiles required.

Finally, on the last day the sun came out and, to unleash our creativity, we went for a bike ride.

Il vagabondo

Objective: meeting one of the key partners of the Luna al guinzaglio proposal for Matera 2019, that is to say the Mediterranean expedition that will arrive in Favara, in the province of Agrigento, on 26th August, to support the Farm Cultural Park, an urban regeneration project that is facing a critical period within the local government.

It is the right time to explore a territory where contemporary art will be used to regenerate the entire inhabited centres, spoilt by illegal building, worsened by catastrophic events. A typical example: Gibellina Nuova. After the earthquake in Belìce, the small town has been well known for the reconstruction of an open-air artistic park whose works of art are closely related to the Museum of the Mediterranean Wefts.

25th August: Potenza-Favara on the road

The Salerno-Reggio Calabria highway is now beautiful and easy to be driven across, thus letting people enjoy the night journey to Sicily with the sunset on the nice, hot and red sea. Almost nobody is taking the ferry boat to Messina late at night, the air is mild and after half- an- hour ferry boat the challenge starts: we arrive in Favara on time for the midnight check-in at the Community, that is the B&B inside the Farm Cultural Park.
But Gaetano, who is the owner of the B&B, already knows that in the darkness, the road will not meet the expectations.
We arrive in Favara at night,we are exhausted, we do not seize immediately the greatness of the site, but even in tourist accomodations you can ‘live’ design everywhere, which highlights mass architecture in a pleasant cosmopolitan contrast.

26th August: Mediterranean at the Farm Cultural Park

Designed by Andrea Bartoli and Florinda Saieva back in 2010, the cultural park was built in order to make art revitalise a territory affected by a high percentage of delinquency and illegal building. Thanks to this project it was possible to import good practices from all over the world, thus getting inspired by containers of International contemporary art, rather than by districts built in the big worldwide capitals where it is possible to find manufactured products, food from all over the world and innovative experiences.

A regenerated inhabited district that develops in 7 courtyards with a Moroccan garden, a social kitchen, a co-working space, a gallery for temporary exhibitions, a school of architecture for children, several spaces where to drink and eat, tourist accomodations managed by the buildings’ owners who started their business within the framework of the regeneration project.

It looks like a gallery-district where every year artists, architects and the creative community are invited to replace the installations and the works of the continuously developing collection.
It looks like a big machine that requires a huge effort and that involves most of the community directly or indirectly.

The positive effect of the project can be immediately noticed wandering around the town, starting from the Castle that hosts temporary exhibitions in compliance with the schedule of the Farm. The aesthetic contamination can be noticed in the urban furnishings of gardens, benches, signs etc. It seems that some other activities and places might have been contaminated by this innovative atmosphere: the Museo della Mandorla (Museum of the Almond) - that unfortunately is shut down but a glimpse of it can be caught from the windows - restaurants with tables in the yards and street art on the walls, unique corners standing out among the run-down lanes and pervasive incomplete buildings!

In the evening the expedition Mediterranea organizes an unscheduled event at the Farm Cultural Park to raise the interest in the project by comparing the two realities that are putting their efforts to change difficult situations.

Mediterranea is an expedition that was founded in 2014 by a group of people sharing the passion for sailing and the wish of using the energy of a boat in a mission aiming to let people know the other Mediterranean countries, to build peace bridges and to offer a tool to carry out scientific research, like the study on plastic wastes in the water. It is a project open to new collaborations. On the way to Favara, we decide to stop at Porto Empedocle, even if it was not planned because for La luna al guinzaglio it was an opportunity to meet the partner with whom we worked out the proposal for Matera 2019 within the framework of “Coast to Coast”.
The dialogue between Simone Perotti, writer, sailor, designer, heart and soul of Mediterranea, and Andrea Bartoli, founder and artistic director of Farm, opens a public debate on the importance of long-term planning like this one and on the need of having visionaries who can look towards new development opportunities and community prospects.

At the end of the event, we meet Francesca Piro, sailor and President of Mediterranea together with Simone Perotti, to discuss about next year’s projects and organize an inspection on the boat. 2018 expedition has to be completely organized because the captain and the crew must be identified. Every year the crew alternates the founders with the project’s partners. However, we have already decided which countries we are going to, such as: Tunisia, Morocco, the Strait of Gibraltar and Portugal. “In October we will plan other activities”, Mr. Perotti concludes and puts off a more operative meeting with Francesca to the following day.

The evening goes by very fast until late at night. Tasting a small rice croquette and an artisanal beer, we visit all the spaces and every corner of the gallery with the electro-soft dj-set. We are surprised to see the huge quantity of people strolling down the narrow streets of the Farm and the absolute transversality, despite the most popular festival of the village is underway in the central square! Groups of youngsters, families and couples of adults stroll down and mix with young people and people looking for an alternative evening, while a film on the street art in Grottaglie is projected and followed by an interesting debate on the creator, thought-provoker, art dealer and internationally-lauded artist: Angelo Milano, tag Momo.

27th August: The Museum of Mediterranean Weft in Gibellina and Mediterranea in Sciacca

At breakfast the President of Mediterranea explains to us thoroughly the 2018 programme of the expedition, highlighting any unexpected events, presenting the local interlocutors, like the Institutes of Culture, Embassies and Port authorities that are usually involved to start planning meetings, research and events.

After scheduling the next dates, an inspection of the boat is carried out at the Porto of Sciacca where it is tied up at the dock.

In the meantime, turning and heading towards west, La luna al guinzaglio continues up to Gibellina, where it discovers a town that is the symbol of the post-earthquake regeneration hosting the Museum of the Mediterranean Wefts.
Favara is 120 km away from Gibellina, that is two-hour drive through contrasting landscapes.
The degradation caused by illegal building is replaced by the beauty of the Valley of the Temples and of the coast.
Driving northwards on Sunday afternoon we can see an arid and dormant landscape and Gibellina Nuova looks surreal, among impressive incomplete and complete monuments whose value is unknown to the most!
All is quiet, while the big works of art display a recent past to the foreigners, a past that has marked history only in the art textbooks, without giving way to a better future for the community.

This place is a true open air museum, where Ludovico Quaroni built the Mother Church with the shapes of a suburban planetarium, Consagra built a big portal at the entrance to the town and an incomplete theatre, Mendini built the Civic Tower-Carillon, Accardi decorated entire walls with hand-painted local ceramics.
We drive through the town to admire the art in the street. We do not have enough time to arrive at the old town of Gibellina where Burri turned the ruins of the town erased by the earthquake of Belice into a permanent memorial known as the “Cretto gigante”, one of the world’s biggest land art works. After the earthquake of 1968 Gibellina was rebuilt near the motorway, on the lands of a mafia family. The mayor at the time invited the most important artists and Gibellina started to be mentioned in the textbooks of contemporary history of art but its reputation stopped there.
The Foundation Orestiadi deals with interesting activities. It organizes the festival of the theatre and international music that can boast big settings like the huge cretto by the master from Città di Castello and promoted the Museum of Mediterranean Wefts, that celebrates Sicily as the outpost in the exchanges between Greece, Middle East and Africa.
We are interested in craft works and works of art that mix and convey the know-how of remote places. The famous artists who are included in the exhibition raise the expectations. In fact, the great work by the Stalkers in primis, “Tappeto volante” does not disappoint them: stalactites made of ropes with copper ends make up a suspended sky and devise a travelling place, where stillness mingles with movement. The installation is the result of a multicultural lab aimed at redesigning the wooden ceiling of the Cappella Palatina in Palermo, a manual activity which can involve everyone in the research on the Iranic origins of the building that has been implemented within the travelling exhibition “L’Islam in Sicilia”.

The collection of impressive and unique installations is a proof of the time spent in Gibellina by artists like Boetti, Pomodoro, Isgrò and Accardi. We cannot but mention the impressive view of the “Montagna di sale” by Paladino, in which the power of the black horses sucked by the whiteness of the salt is thrown towards the dry landscape beneath the impassive sky.

Unfortunately, the remaining works and artifacts in the exhibition disperse this great energy. Paintings, sculptures, artifacts, handicrafts, traditional textiles and costumes are exhibited mixing them up along a completely confusing space-time; moreover, they are blurred by the neglected settings, which sometimes are almost kitch!
The attempt to put everything together hasn’t been very successful. It is clear that adding new luster to this great treasure has been necessary, as the closure of the seat of the Foundation in Tunis some years ago shows.

Therefore, we set off for Sciacca, our mind full of visions.

We are going to visit the only sailing boat arriving at the port tonight. We arrive at the same time as the 17-metre blue and white sailing boat that manoeuvres and ties up at the dock. Simone Perotti helps us get on the boat to introduce us to the crew and show us the spaces that 14 people have been sharing for three years during this expedition in the Mediterranean Sea.

A masterpiece of wooden joints and details with all the necessary stuff to live together, to read, to discuss, to study and to relax. Cabins and control boards are located together with cupboards, a small library, a table for everyone and the plotter to display the routes on the maps.

At last we are on the vessel that will spread the wings of our imagination wide, from Basilicata to the Mediterranean.

La luna al guinzaglio is ready!
The new captain will join the crew in October. We have to wait!
After a relaxing stop over in Catania, where new and old friends welcome us, we are ready to go back to Basilicata.

La Luna al Guinzaglio

The Matera EuropeanCapital of Culture 2019 candidature bid book foresees a number of projects that are to be carried out by the Matera - Basilicata 2019 Foundationin co-creation with the Lucanian creative scene.
Casa Netural is one of the 31 Lucanian creative realities chosen as Project Leaders to design and develop the bid book projects together with the Foundation, and more specifically is working on the co-creation of a project regarding food within the Roots and routes theme of the bid book.

Among the various tools foreseen in the co-creation process (meetings, workshops, mentoring), we have the "go&see": a voucher to go to Europe, in search of encounters and sources of inspiration; to forge new relationships and partnerships.

We at Casa Neturalhad our first "go&see" in Ganges, in southern France, to meet John Thackara, our European project partner. Part of the IdLab team was also with us, project partner in charge of the communication and digital aspects. It was a meeting of discovery and knowledge.

Discovery of a territory that has many affinities with Matera, and in general, with Lucania; knowledge of the many projects that, at European level, are designing new models of community and local development by enabling forms of circular economy.
Projects in line with the goal that Casa Netural has set for 2019: to use food, a catalyst of cultural identities, to build relationships of proximity between peripheral territories seeking new forms of sustainable development.

Ganges is the "South Gate" of the Causses and Cévennes territory, inscribed in the Unesco World Heritage list in 2011 as a Mediterranean agro-pastoral Cultural Landscape.

There are many affinities with Basilicata: from the geological diversity of the landscapes, to still being a testament of an “ancient” world closely linked to agricultural and pastoral traditions.
In this vast territory we find the last places where they still practice the traditional summer transhumance, a seasonal droving between pastures.
A territory which, like Matera, but, in general, Basilicata, can count on a vast landscape, natural and cultural heritage to be valued, developed, and at the same time preserved.
Beautiful places, rich in history and traditions, which invest on their heritage to no longer be "economic peripheries" but "European economic provinces": places where you can live, produce and make economy, without traumas, and preserving quality of life.

If Ganges was the door to discover a territory so akin to Basilicata, John Thackara was our bridge to meet those who, in those places, organize from the bottom up, to carry out community projects able to draw a sustainable economic development in the region.

John Thackara, English philosopher and journalist, has been living in Ganges for several years.
He was the founder of "Doors of Perception", a programme of conferences where, for the first time, a connection was created between the world of design and the environmental movement. John Thackara continues to work on his research and writing with the objective of deepening this relationship, to find new solutions for sustainable development. He is working to foment visibility and networking of all the organizations experimenting with this type of solutions.
John thus introduced us to this world, telling us several stories and describing realities.
We met and got to know Kristi van Riet, Co-Director of Doors of Perception, who shares not only a life with John, but also research work on these issues.
One afternoon during our stay was dedicated to meeting with Elise Boissiere.
Elise lives in a beautiful stone house, in the Cévennes National Park, which has belonged to her family for generations.
Web designer by training, she chose to live in her region of origin and to apply her experience and work to the service of a new development of this area, which, like Basilicata, registers a strong risk of desertification. She is working on networking all the local realities and expertise to design and implement a form of light and environmentally friendly tourism, source of economic sustainability for all affected areas, while preserving environmental and ecological sustainability.
More specifically, Elise works within the municipal administration of Vallerauge and manages two projects in particular: the Meteosite du Mont Aigoual, and Les Ecovoisins for Cévennes Ecotourisme.
The Meteosite, museum and interpretation centre dedicated to meteorology, is the last mountain observatory in France and one of the last in the world.
Les écovoisins is a project to build mini-réseaux of tourist, cultural and economic actors who work together to develop tourist practices based on the values of sharing and respect for the environment and to enable a reflection on possible forms of economic development in a rural area.

Lastly, we collected the testimonies of other "non-French" individuals, who like John and Kristi, live in one of the small towns in this region, bringing content and a European scope into small almostrural realities, chosen for the quality of life they offer:

Walter Tjantele– photographer and cycle tourism expert

Valerie Katz – chef, hotel manager, and wellness tourism expert

Walter and Valerie, in addition to pursuing their professions, own a large and historical house near Ganges, in which they combine tourist and artistic initiatives. In this way, they have made their Maison du Pont Vieux into a point of reference and of building proximity relationships at local and European level.

Our "go&see" in southern France ended with a bang, with a visit to Arles and Luma Arles.
Luma Arles was launched in 2013 by Maja Hoffmann – president and founder, in 2004, of the Luma Foundation – to design, develop and manage the "Parc des Ateliers", a large industrial area which has been converted into a cultural institution that hosts the various activities of the Luma Foundation.
What really impacted us is that Luma Arles aims to be an ecosystem where culture and the environment are interconnected in research and in the activation of a circular economy that starts from the use of local natural resources to return to the territory.
In its programming Luma Arles has implemented the "Cuisine des Forges" project, motivated by the belief that cooking is a universal way of sharing and promoting interpersonal and cross-cultural exchange.
We also visited there, with great interest, the Atelier Luma; the exhibition dedicated to the photographic archives of Annie Leibovitz: "Annie Leibovitz The Early Years: 1970-1983. Archive Project #1"; "The Visible World" an installation created by Peter Fischli and David Weiss.

To conclude, a long journey home which, between bad weather, delays and a long wait at the airport, got us home at 3 o’clock in the morning.
We were undoubtedly tired upon our return but completely satisfied with the experience. 
Besides the beauty of the places we visited and the intensity of the meetings, we brought home living testimony of "peripheral" areas which, thanks to projects and communities built around the development of natural and cultural heritage are claiming European citizenship anew.

Casa Netural

At the end of this journey in the towns of the French Loire Valley between Nantes and Angers we will return to Basilicata bringing a precious commodity:
art in public space, the role of the artist in a world of active and sentient citizens, des rêves sauvages (wild dreams), the actual "cultural landscape" of people and places, of a widely-looking grey city (Nantes) with an economy made of industrial activities ranging from metallurgical to shipyards, rediscovered as European green capital, symbol of bien vivre, of the ugly turned beautiful because it is finally made visible, understood, valued, politically imagined, loved… and above all "recognized" as a common good.

Nantes, city of Jules Verne, whose Museum watches from above the Loire River as it penetrates the city, and draws the "Ilê de Nantes" river island-in the past no man's land-former railway area dotted with warehouses for the shipyards, reborn thanks to urban redevelopment and which has become: industrial heritage, landscape of contemporary architectural experimentation, unusual space that houses the fantastic machines (mechanical 20-metre-tall elephants, large spiders and rides inspired by Da Vinci), lunar landscapes on which to jump, Cranes repainted and lit up like spaceships, small beaches equipped for barbecues by the river, vast urban vegetable gardens, art galleries, extravagant venues, schools, nurseries, green spaces, socio-cultural centres, and many people, of all ages.

A city that from the 15th to the 19th century was the first point of entrance for slaves destined for France and many other European cities of that era, and that speaks of its past through the "Memorial de l'abolition de l'esclavage", an underground walk along a corridor made of concrete and glass: we find that the names of the ships that transported hundreds upon hundreds of slaves were inspired by friendship, beauty and the Saints: L’Amitié, la Belle Marie, le Saint Paul.

Literally every single part has been thought to welcome the presence of children and all play areas represent great opportunity to express art, curiosity and beauty. Near the Place Mercoeuris a big wooden sea monster, freed from deep sands as told by the author, artist and architect Kinya Maruyama, that puffs steam, offers gymkhanas through its belly, slides along its tongue and "waters" its back decorated with hanging plants. In addition to fountains/pools, Paysage Glissé (slipped landscapes) around the castle of the Dukes of Brittany and numerous artistic interventions of large dimensions that stimulate the city, its residents and visitors.

In the city you just have to simply follow the now famous "LigneVert", the green line drawn on the asphalt along the pavements, pedestrian bridges, iron railings to follow the 52 stages of this year. Every year since 2012 summer in the city is enriched with new visions while keeping past ones alive, including everything up to the delicious Talensac market which displays the art of presenting food.

It is impossible to summarize this trip. We will cite only three works, the ones that impacted us the most, as it is worth considering their meaning.

Mon nom est personne (translator’s note: my name is nobody), exhibition by Alexandre Périgot, a total artist in his use of languages that infiltrates the saturated network of entertainment and art images shaking this mechanism at a standstill by proposing Les anonymes. All museums have a part of anonymous works among their collections. These unsigned works authorize us to tell of various scenarios. An opportunity to look at a work produced between the 17th and 20th centuries, without the presence of the artist, free from panels, signatures, fame and explanations. Man and his vision of the work, a simple and shocking exercise through which we feel the "weight" of a spoiled look.

Entrez Libre by Pick Up production.

A historic jail in Nantes that will be demolished soon. Its external and internal walls portray the mural art of a collective of artists that have given voice to the excruciating suffering of its inhabitants over the years. "To provoke the inner traveller, an invitation to cross the prison bars, its madness, live its saturation". An ephemeral work of dreamlike evasion and magnificent escape.

BLKNTRNTL by Nicolas Darrot.

The Graslin Opera Theatre in Nantes has an immense mechanized black cloth flying slowly on stage. A work designed to connect the outside with the inside. When we discovered it, it was in the foyer of the theatre between the statues of Graslin and Moliére. The code is that of International Black, the first group of anarchists in London at the end of the 19th century. Seen in this way, this approximately 10 metres long flagpole, rhythmically shaken by a mechanism looks mean and vindictive. In the artist’s vision it is the extension of the conductor's baton, and the 45° inclined drape is agitated by simulating the sound of time and reflects the city’s silhouette on the glossy surface. Hypnotic, for us a representation of the ghost of the theatre, dead and buried.

Impossible not to mention Le Lieu Unique, former biscuit factory of le LU (the small butter biscuits more specifically). It is the current benchmark for the contemporary scene of many performative languages, with a brasserie, a library and a hammam downstairs.

All this and much more (the Art Museum, Le Jardin des Plantes, La Tour de Bretagne and the immense stork of Le Nid by Jean Jullien, the Art Nouveau brasserie La Cigale, unchanged since 1845) is Le Voyage a Nantes the public company that has joined the institutions and artistic sites representative of the Ville de Nantes and Nantes Métropole, a cluster of 24 municipalities with a total of 600,000 people that gathers the whole population of the agricultural areas and urbanized areas of the Loire, and which in 20 years has increased the number of residents by 100,000 and expects the same growth until 2030.

A fabulous trip along the 70-km river estuary ensures the discovery of landscapes and collections of contemporary works of art perfectly integrated with the natural resources along the route. Voyage a Nantes is one of the last projects, perhaps the culmination, of a socialist political vision which has used art and culture as a political weapon against their opponents, conceived and designed by current artistic director Jean Blaise, and the current Minister of Foreign Affairs Jean-Marc Ayrault, Prime Minister from 2012 to 2014 and beforehand president of Nantes Métropole.

Nantes is also the city where the Royal de Luxe theatre company is located, in two huge harbour hangars ceded by the city, at 1, Quai Cordon Bleu street.

The artistic director is Jean Luc Colcourt, who in 1996 received the Grand Prix National du Théâtre, the very same received by Ionesco, Beckett, Barroult, Mnouchkine and Anouilh to name a few. To penetrate the fortress means crossing a shipyard to discover the head of a life-size rocket that just came out of a Verne novel, climb several stairs which walls speak of decades of work and of a trip around the world of their productions.

Before meeting the Executive Director GweanelleRaux, with whom all previous contact had been by mail and by phone, I am taken to the "Museum" as they call it. We usually call where all the props are locateddeposits, but theirs are truly special. Indeed,MessieurColcourt had a poetic intuition in 1993, and dropped a giant from the sky. Yes, a giant, a being of wood, machines and cloth wearing a diving suit. It is 15 metres tall and in the costume room I find myself in front of its actual coat. It is hanging on a hanger and starts from the top of the warehouse.

In the dim light I see the feet of the little giant, its niece, and suddenly I cross its eyes, its head is packaged and it looks at me.

Therein lies a life of visions born in principle from Jean Luc Colcourt and Didier Gallot-Lavallée (already starring our first go&seein Rome).

In the days spent in Nantes, after seeing the new show "Les miniatures" twice and having met GwenaelleRaux, the desire to develop the project for which we were selected by the Matera 2019 Foundation grew more and more. To have the possibility of dealing with extraordinary characters means bringing to Potenza and Matera and all of Basilicata giants falling from the sky that tell extraordinary stories of simplicity and poetry made for everyone.

One of the most memorable performances in Liverpool succeeded in attracting 3.5 million viewers.

Colcourt from the beginning chose street theatre because he believed it to be the best way to approach people, subvert reality and inject irony and poetry into the streets, places often neglected or lived daily absent-mindedly. All done following two golden rules: the shows take place outdoors, and are free of charge.

We hope to speak to you about the developments of this dialogue. In the meantime we are preparing for our September-October go&see where we will see giants falling from the Geneva skies.

This trip has allowed us to experience places overturned by cultural operation, a non-invasive artistic dimension in the promotion of events, short and quickly moving queues, a solution that allows us to appreciate the city in a short period of time, to feel it regenerated, from the looks and presence of tourists who really become at this time “cultural residents”, with a European spirit that goes beyond characteristics and "nationalities".

We conclude by saying that without a real political vision no town of Basilicata may really benefit from the arrival of money, relationships, and great artists that Matera2019 will be able to attract.

It is necessary to try to love this land politically, and when we say politically we are addressing administrators and citizens.

To those who open businesses, those who volunteer, to artists, to Mayors and councillors.

Basilicata has an inexhaustible heritage of the past and present, expresses a contemporary soul while remaining deeply rooted to its original characteristics. It is a good thing to finally become politically aware of this. And if the electorate may have to spur our administrators, be aware that ART has an extraordinary power, far more than favouritisms and short-term relations. ART, understood as in all its expressive languages, connects people with each other, improves life, gives hope for the future to the young people of this land. Invest in art not only in oil, wind, and everything else that seems to have a priority, sooner or later everything will dry up, with the exception of man’s imagination.

Gommalacca Teatro

The first step has been taken. A very quick Roman go&see, with the fear of going mad because of 42°C temperature, and literally going crazy with Emmanuel and Didier Gallot-Lavallée(the theatre equivalent to the Lumière brothers), but let’s go in order.

Towards the end of April the Matera Basilicata 2019 Foundation, in order to accomplish the cultural programme that determined the selection of Matera, posted a call to select suitable "project leaders" to develop the contents of the bid book.

Our company was selected along with 31 organisations dealing in various ways of dissemination and cultural production.

We await between October and November a further selection based on the quality and cohesion of the executive project, result of the co-production carried out in July and September with the team of the Foundation including cultural manager Ariane Bieou, Agostino Riitanoand Ida Leone.

One of the first actions proposed by the Foundation was exactly this go&see: a voucher to fund travel and explorations to meet the project partners, nourish ourselves on experiences, visions, festivals; anything that can help the candidature project to find the maximum expressive strength in artistic and organizational terms.

Our company responded to the Circulating Entities project within the Roots and routes theme.

We intend to apply our maximum efforts and strengths over the next few years to turn what we have learned about Basilicata into a spectacular poetic tale, leaving a lasting impression in the places from which it originates and in which it arrives.

To start building this route and identify a "great and powerful narrative" we returned to our roots as actors with Emmanuel Gallot-Lavallée our art source and life coach. A "non-master" more precisely that in 2005 resulted in the artistic association between myself and Mimmo Conte, Gommalacca Theatre.

And in the vitality of this process we sought the extraordinary vision of his brother, Didier, co-founder of the Royal-de-Luxe company in Nantes.

Two brothers, inventors of epic narratives, of Giants covered up in sand, of hanging gardens, flags for the windy city, mechanical costumes, headdresses and masks of the subsoil with which, yesterday in a little bar in Happio, between the coloured snails that climb the grey walls of the shopping centre in the Appia we have "upturned the earth", to bring out the underground sounds of a Basilicata made of ash men who have lost their memory, angels and buildings that weep tears of colour.

Emmanuel and Didier, welcome to our dreams, 2019 will be a heavenly year.

Gommalacca Teatro

Matera 2019 provides an opportunity for organisations to increase their visibility on the international stage.

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Institutional Partner Matera 2019

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Jewelry, clothing items, air refreshers. These are the items signed by Matera2019 and produced by the merchant-partners which will participate in Matera 2019 European Capital of Culture through the production of personalised products with the logo Matera2019 OpenFuture.

The official merchant-partner, which obtained the license to use the Matera2019 logo for commercial purposes, are the following:

A network of enterprises with its collection Matera CityJewel and Yezael( by Angelo Cruciani),produce ethical merchandising to combat violence against women. Part of the profit made by selling necklaces, bracelets, t-shirts and ceramic air freshener, will be donated to the association “Casa Delle Donne” involved in supporting victims of gender violence and their respective families.

The craft laboratory Elisa and Janna (elisajanna.com), situated in Piazza del Sedile in Matera, is specialized in jewelry production. The MT2019 capsule collection consists of necklaces, bracelets, earrings, keychains in brass, silver, rubber and leather, fully handmade and showing exquisite craftsmanship.

(valid until 31 January 2020)

The Matera 2019 Passport entitles you to participate in all events of the Matera 2019 official programme.

Booking is necessary for some events. Choose the event you wish to take part in and book your seat.

The Matera 2019 Passport is not transferable and can only be used by the holder. You may be asked to show your identity document prior to the beginning of the event in order to check your personal data.

The Matera 2019 Passport also provides you with free urban public transport in Matera.

Would you like to treat somebody to a year of events in Matera, the 2019 European Capital of Culture? Buy a Matera 2019 Passport VOUCHER. You will be e-mailed a confirmation receipt of the purchase to show when you collect the Matera 2019 Passport at one of Matera 2019 Info Points (via Lucana 125-127). On collection of the Passport at the Info Points you will be asked for the name, surname and date of birth for each Passport.

Is your stay in Matera a short one? Buying the €10 Daily Passport gives you access to the exhibitions and events for a whole day. The Daily Passport is valid from the time it is first used until midnight on the same day*

The Matera 2019 Passport and the Daily Passport can be bought online** and at Matera 2019 Info Points (see Contacts for information and opening hours).

FULL PRICE

€19 for the Matera 2019 Passport (valid until 31.01.2020)
€10 for the Daily Passport (valid from first use until midnight of the same day)

REDUCED PRICE FOR MATERA 2019 PASSPORT HOLDERS

€15 for Intesa Sanpaolo customers***
€15 GROUPS (minimum15 people)
€12 BASILICATA RESIDENTS
€5 CHILDREN AND TEENAGERS AGED 6 - 18
€5 SCHOOLS
€5 STUDENTS OF 'UNIVERSITÀ DEGLI STUDI DELLA BASILICATA'
FREE FOR CHILDREN UNDER 5

REDUCED PRICES FOR DAILY PASSPORT HOLDERS

€5 Daily Passport for CHILDREN AND TEENAGERS AGED 6 -18
FREE FOR CHILDREN UNDER 5

All online purchases and purchases via TicketOne are subject to a 1€ pre-sale fee (+ commissions/expenses). No additional fee will be charged for purchases at one of Matera 2019 Info Points (via Lucana 125-127).

Passports can neither be cancelled nor refunded.

The Organisation reserves the right to make changes to the programme. Information, last-minute changes, cancelled or postponed events will be posted on the website.

*The Daily Passport is not valid as a fare on urban buses in Matera.

**You can buy the full price Matera 2019 Passport and the full price Daily Passport online, as well as some of the reduced prices.

***The Passport and the reduced rate Passport Voucher can only be purchased by and for holders of credit or debit cards issued by Intesa Sanpaolo. When holders of Passports that have been purchased for a reduced rate attend events, they may be asked to produce an identity document so that their personal details can be checked against the credit or debit card issued by Intesa Sanpaolo in the name of the Passport holder.