ESSERI URBANI

Project

267493

Status

Submitted

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NEW EUROPEAN BAUHAUS AWARDS : existing completed examples

Project title

ESSERI URBANI

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Description

Ved at bruge moderne kunst som et redskab til at stimulere byfornyelse og social revitalisering bringer Esseri Urbani værker fra nye kunstnere ud til offentligheden på gratis udendørs udstillinger. Dette omfatter yderligere multimedieindhold, som kan tilgås ved hjælp af QR-koder. Den første Esseri Urbani-festival, "Zootopia", blev afholdt i Locorotondos gader i 2019. 2021-udgaven, "Heterotopia", finder sted i Noci. Hvert arrangement er skræddersyet til de lokale forhold og har til formål at udbrede adgangen til kultur, bæredygtig turisme og beskæftigelse. Planlægningen foregår med deltagelse af sociale og økonomiske aktører, og der sættes særligt fokus på at inddrage beboere og besøgende, især børn, teenagere og besøgende med handicap. Projektet giver mulighed for at skabe forbindelser mellem samfund, landskaber og lokale arkitekturer ved hjælp af moderne kunstneriske udtryk. Det skaber også nye muligheder for udstillinger og kunstmæssig nyskabelse: Udstillingen af kunst i offentlige rum skaber nye perspektiver for både kunsten og det sted, udstillingen foregår på.

Where was your project implemented in the EU?

When was your project implemented?

Has your project benefited from EU programmes or funds?

Which programme(s) or fund(s)? Provide the name of the programme(s)/fund(s), the strand/action line as relevant and the year.

Please provide a summary of your project

ESSERI URBANI is a project that develops along the territory and for the territory. Puglia is a unique and recognizable land for its tangible and intangible heritage, and it requires a strategy of protection and development, which saves it from speculative dynamics.  This project raise up a challenge as well: to transform the environmental and cultural heritage into a self-propelling and sustainable growth engine. This can be achieved only by strengthening local cultural circuits and integrating them into the tourist-accommodation offer. The main aim of the project is to promote art through the design of activities and events focused on issues such as access to culture, social inclusion and youth employment.  The project finds its most visible expression in the homonymous Festival, born in 2019 from an idea of pinoINCREDIX, and it is the first art event in southern Italy designed in an inclusive perspective and accessible to people with disabilities. It is an opportunity for research and artistic experimentation to bring together communities, landscapes and local architectures with contemporary artistic languages.  ESSERI URBANI opens the curatorial practice and the artistic exercise to new possibilities, to read and to rewrite the forms, the identities and functions of the public space. Set in a dynamic context such the urban space, the work of art transforms it into a place of encounter, not only of passage. From this comparison it comes to life an open-air exhibition: the works of art dialogue with spaces and architectures to outline new maps and scenarios, to propose new perspectives and points of view. Outside the rooms of a museum or a gallery, the work of art transforms itself: it can no longer count on a container that defines and guarantees its artistic status and it must adapt to a new environment, to change language and to evolve into a new form like a living being. 

Please give information about the key objectives of your project in terms of sustainability and how these have been met

The theme of sustainability is one of the most important challenges of our time. The main aim is to design an event which has not just an impact for the hosting places, but which is also able to trigger the process of change. For this reason, the project reject the idea of "touristification": this phenomenon distorts the cities and makes them lifeless and unbearable for the locals and for the visitors. The artistic curatorship can only be accompanied and followed by a trustworthy urban, architectural, historical and sociological study. When we take action in a historic center, we are in the middle of the beating heart of cities, a cross-section of their deepest and ancient identity. For this reason, every action must be thought through and nourished with all the due consideration to reconcile the "spirit of the place", the modern needs of living and artistic enjoyment. It is a slow process, which requires the construction of strong relations with the social and economic tissue, to bring together public and private stakeholders. Everyone is called to support the project and take part in it, marking the exact time for a change of pace. In this way ESSERI URBANI enters on tiptoe in the living tissue of cities, and it let it express itself whit spontaneity. Even the use of paper, which has always been the key criterion is limited to the maximum, using technology to reduce waste and promote innovation. 

Please give information about the key objectives of your project in terms of aesthetics and quality of experience beyond functionality and how these have been met

The project is aimed at a general public, which does not usually attend museums and galleries, because it does not perceive art as an interest. The contemporary society of consumption and the ephemeral aesthetics of social networks, induces us to focus our interest on what is useful or has positive consequences in everyday life, possibly also in economic terms. To this must be added constantly sharing on social networks what we do, what we eat, the places we visit. To reverse this trend, we need to start looking at the arts as a tool to take action on reality and revitalize it, to activate a process of urban and social regeneration. This is a reversal of perspective that implies a reversal of the paradigm of the artistic fruition: art is no longer in museums, but where people live, it happens in the streets and it becomes a sort of widespread museum, with extended opening hours and free admission, multimedia content (critical texts, info and audio guides in two languages, LIS video guides, gallery, maps, calendar events with the possibility of booking) accessible through QR code, and offline navigation.  Imagine arriving in a city and finding ourselves in this sort of "themed park", in which the alienating presence of artistic installations allows us to live a full experience of the places. The universal language of art invite us to dwell on the perception of smells, sounds, colours and on details, also historical or sociological ones, otherwise imperceptible. Contemporary art offers itself as a reading key to open other perceptions and cognitive rooms on the cities, to embark on a journey within the journey, able to engage the locals but also visitors.

Please give information about the key objectives of your project in terms of inclusion and how these have been met

The project is based on the call to action of the communities.  The visitors of the exhibition circuit are invited to explore the different levels of dialogue between works and places. How? Through the technological lure of the Web App, which uses the same cognitive-perceptive dynamics of Social Networks to induce the public to look deeper, to find out what is behind, to explore. On the path, they will come across other micro-exhibition circuits, which offer the opportunity to visit historic buildings and cloisters, but also the shops of traders and artisans. This is the exact opposite of that silent and petrified suspension of museums because it rather requires a living experience of the city. Thus it happens that a closed room emerges in the center of a square, that the laundry lying in the sun reach the ground to be crossed, or that a garden grows and develops along the streets. The involvement of the public is also stimulated by a dense program of workshops, talk, mapping, party, urban performance. The invitation is to get your hands dirty, to be protagonists, to bring home the feeling of having lived a personalized experience, unique and unrepeatable. A careful attention is be paid to minors and disabled guests. A specific programme of highly engaging recreational activities, also aimed at the discovery and acquisition of a new awareness of the places, or even their re-design, is dedicated to children and teens. We turn to disabled guests through the planning of technological solutions as well as the design of dedicated services.   

Please give information on the results/impacts achieved by your project in relation to the category you apply for

In 2019, the first edition dedicated to Zootopia, was held in Locorotondo (BA). Imagining, thanks to the power of art, an animal invasion in the civilized universe of our cities, allowed us to reflect on the nature of the places and our way of life. 10 site specific art installations selected with an international call, thousands of photos shared on Instagram, 13 off events, 16 in all the artists involved, 10 writers and poets, 24 professionals and volunteers employed in the organization, 12 companies involved, over 350 free guided tours. The project has won several awards: presented at the International Conference of the most beautiful villages in the Mediterranean and at the BIT of Milan, among the most significant activities of the Municipality of Locorotondo; attentioned by the Region of Puglia as part of the wider project "TOURISM4ALL - Development of a cross-border network for the promotion of accessible tourist destinations"; Special Mention Under 35 (only Apulian project) as part of the Cultura+Impresa Award promoted by Federculture and The Round Table for the section "Sponsorship and Cultural Partnership". In 2021 the theme of Heterotopia, which focuses attention on our ability to perceive space, interact with it and give it meaning, finds a home in Noci (BA). Included in the broader program "Noci City of Arts and Culture", the Festival gives continuity and new impetus to a project of ethical and aesthetic regeneration, able to oppose to the slow and silent transformation of our places in non-places. 49 applications received in response to the Call with an international participation (Brazil, Albania, Germany, France, Japan, United Kingdom, Malta, China, Spain), by individuals, collectives and professional studies. About 18 meetings, performances, workshops, exhibitions and seminars accompany the festival, like in a widespread workshop.   

Please explain the way citizens benefiting from or affected by the project and civil society have been involved in the project and what has been the impact of this involvement on the project

23 artists, designers and architects involved through the international call in 10 projects selected for 2021, have contributed to give a world level to the project and a strategic opportunity of multicultural exchange for the territory. From this first group of works, the aim is to create a permanent collection, to be installed in public spaces. About 30 artists, architects, designers, graphic designers, photographers, sociologists and psychologists involved through the EU Experience programming, will offer a dense programming. The positive impacts of the festival will extend beyond the event itself, allowing locals and visitors to leave something of their experience: mappings, artistic and craft objects, etc. Dozens of amateur photographers involved through #OPPOCITIES social photo project on Instagram, will generate curiosity and expectation in advance.  The winners of the contest will be part of a micro-expositive path in small shops and craft, in need of support after a prolonged period of closure due to the pandemic. The local community is then a privileged target, involved in every phase, from the promotion to the custody of the works on display, through the fruition of the activities planned. The project is aimed at tourists and visitors looking for a real and unique experience. Also thanks to the collaboration with tour operators interested in promoting zero environmental impact- sustainable for host communities- inclusive tourism.  Finally, we mention the attention to the inclusion of disadvantaged groups and children, in collaboration with associations and cooperatives that deal with social marginalities and fragility, also seriously affected by the effects of the pandemic. 

Please highlight the innovative character of the project

As a result of the pandemic, it’s necessary to rethink the exhibition act and the curatorial practice. Exhibiting works of art in the public and open spaces of the cities is a practice that is spreading; this possibility, however, is mostly open to artists and curators of fame, while residual is the space reserved for the proposals of young emerging talents. Our challenge is to open public spaces starting from the world of non-profit. We wish to develop the expressive potential of those subjects at the edge of a system that focuses the spotlight only on the realities already institutionalized and to encourage innovation in a sector that in Italy - especially in the South - is limited to defending positions already consolidated and acquired. Another peculiar element of the project is the mobilization, through art and culture, of the hosting communities. By laying inclusion and accessibility at the foundation of the project, ESSERI URBANI becomes an opportunity for artistic research and experimentation. Through the potential of art, the event offers the opportunity to read the phenomena of our time and to promote the territory and its resources. Integral part of the project is so to encourage active citizenship through practices of interaction and sharing and the promotion of slow and quality tourism, closely linked to youth entrepreneurship in the cultural and creative sectors. We often talk about young people in the future, without understanding that their time is today. The pandemic teaches us that investment in innovation is necessary and urgent. To the institutions the aim to recover a large pocket of intellectuals born and lived in a constant state of economic and social crisis, that will otherwise grow. 

Please explain how the project led to results or learnings which could be transferred to other interested parties

One of our best contamination practices concerns the involvement of partners. ESSERI URBANI is a modular project, which considers different areas: promotion of contemporary art proposing emerging talents, discussion on urban, architectural, historical and sociological aspects of territories, environmental respect, social inclusion and accessibility, technological innovation, tourist qualification, youth entrepreneurship. In order to identify the excellence and to connect it to territories is necessary an accurate research and the planning of specific activities.  The adhesion to the project translates into the ability to share objectives and outcomes, in the choral construction of the project’s different parts. The organization facilitate the construction of a network by redistributing tasks and resources: everyone plays its part like in an harmonious and meaningful puzzle. Therefore, not only the artistic installations are site specific, but the project itself is. This complex organizational effort spreads throughout the year and requires study, analysis, and constant exchange. The method - which has also obtained the "Special Mention Under 35" (the only Apulian project,) as part of the Cultura Impresa aWARD promoted by Federculture and The Round Table, in collaboration with Fondazione Italiana Accenture and ALES, for the section "Sponsorship and Cultural Partnership" - is bearing its fruits. The consolidation of the network of partnerships can only result in an ever greater involvement of the final beneficiaries and in an ever greater adherence to the objectives and aims of the project. 

Is an evaluation report or any relevant independent evaluation source available?

By ticking this box, you declare that all the information provided in this form is factually correct, that the proposed project has not been proposed for the Awards more than once under the same category and that it has not been subject to any type of investigation, which could lead to a financial correction because of irregularities or fraud.