SWEET WATER, SALTY WATER
Cycle of two artist residencies
September 18th to 30th, 2023
Paiva River (Castro Daire, Portugal)
With: Luís Costa, Ana Rodríguez and Vittoria Assembri
In collaboration with the Municipality of Castro Daire, as part of the Memory on Wheels project and with Mapa Sonoro de Uruguay
October 8th to 20th, 2023
Salina (Aeolian Islands, Italy)
With Elettra Bottazzi, Ana Rodríguez and Luís Costa
In collaboration with the Comune di Santa Marina Salina, Associazione Villa Santa Lucia and Mapa sonoro de Uruguay
Two cultural organizations located in different geographical contexts, Binaural Nodar, a cultural organization that works in mountain areas of central Portugal, and Amaneï Salina, a cultural space that develops its activity in one of the Aeolian Islands, part of the Italian region of Sicily, have decided to establish a partnership, based on the mutual perception of a certain common approach in dealing with their territories and in hosting resident artists, valuing direct contact with the landscape and communities, close mediation and the gradual exploration of local themes.
The cycle of two artist residencies “Sweet water, Salty water” proposes working with water as a source of inspiration, from the Atlantic to the Mediterranean, from the fluvial waters of the Paiva River to the salty and southern waves of Salina. Particular attention will be paid to the intersections between water and culture, such as the perpetual mobility of communities across rivers and seas, the specific forms of access to water, as well as the journeys provided by aquatic means: of food, languages, symbols, construction techniques and so many other aspects.
In parallel with a dialog between two European regions, this cycle of artist residencies will establish links with landscapes and communities in Uruguay, in partnership with the Mapa Sonoro de Uruguay project.
Biography:
Vittoria Assembri is an Italian artist who investigates relationships between architecture and sound. Her practice explores territories that are considered marginal, from both an architectural and sonic point of views. The artist focuses her research on the regeneration of urban spaces, such as the restoration of built heritage in search of a sense of social sustainability and social diversity. Her research revolves around the notion of the Third Landscape, an oblique and unconventional condition of abandoned spaces invested with new types of spontaneous forms.
Luís Costa is a curator of contemporary artistic practices, social researcher, sound artist, cultural educator and animator in rural areas, in the context of Binaural Nodar. He is the coordinator of Lafões Cult Lab, an artistic and social research concept developed in the Portuguese territory of Viseu Dão Lafões, which has already hosted hundreds of contemporary artists and social researchers from all over the world. Coordinator of the Binaural Nodar Digital Archive, a research, cataloguing and mapping project of the collective memory of local territories. He is the author and editor of several books on intangible heritage and contemporary art in a rural context, and has presented his sound and media artwork at universities, museums, community spaces and site-specific venues in Portugal, Spain, Italy and Uruguay.
Elettra Bottazzi is an Italian curator, art historian, researcher and archivist. Focusing on an interdisciplinary approach between anthropology, history, archival methodology and linguistic studies, her curatorial practice reflects on themes such as memory and identity in the visible and invisible worlds. She is a regular curator of contemporary art exhibitions and projects in Italy and abroad, and her texts have been published by Mondadori, Electa, Maurizio Corraini and Skira. Elettra Bottazzi is co-founder and artistic director of Amaneï, a non-profit organization and cultural center based in Salina (Aeolian Islands, Italy), which promotes territorial research practices through artist residency programs, community engagement activities and international exchange activities.
Ana Rodríguez was born in Montevideo and has been living and researching in rural contexts since 2001, when she settled in Tacuarembó, in the north of Uruguay. She is an anthropologist with a degree from the University of the Republic of Uruguay. She studied for a master’s degree in Theory and Practice of Creative Documentary at the Autonomous University of Barcelona and is currently studying for a master’s degree in Agricultural Sciences at the Faculty of Agronomy (FAGRO) of the University of the Republic of Uruguay. She was part of the teaching team at the Rural Studies Center (Tacuarembó headquarters of the University of the Republic of Uruguay) between 2016 and 2018. She has made several publications and ethnographic documentaries on the memory of slavery, rural crafts and medicine and popular religiosity (2003-2010), created a CD of oral tradition tales with soundscapes (Los Cuentos de Mamá Carolina, 2013), created the Sound Map of Uruguay (2016) and has, since 2017, been a resident artist and researcher at Binaural Nodar (Portugal). She is currently researching methodologies for working with sound and rural populations as a tool for contributing to local development projects.
Binaural Nodar is a cultural entity financially supported by the Portuguese Government – Culture | General Directorate for the Arts.