A Present Heritage
a festival of performance and live art and an exhibition at BAM – Biennial of Mediterranean Archipelago
from 18.11 to 15.12.2019 in Palazzo Sambuca, and outdoors in the historical centre of Palermo
A Present Heritage is a live art and performance festival focusing on the experience of receiving and passing knowledge. It is a dialogue between different generations that have experienced major paradigm shifts in history.
The experience of post-war, the introduction of telematics in day to day communication, environmental issues, the instability of markets, austerity politics, global migration, mass extinction: how the present entanglement between different generations is working on these issues?
What kind of collaboration is desirable that would put in connection different know-how in problem solving? What role do we envisage today for historical memory?
These are the topics we want to explore through a universal, often non-verbal language: performance.
The age and experience of performers range from artists born in 1950 with 40 years of experience to artists born in 1980 with 10 years of experience in the field. This variety is seen as richness and opportunity to aggregate different perceptions of the present.
The relation withe the theme of BAM, breaking the wall, is seen as part of a lifelong learning process: how do we access and put in better use the heritage we receive? what are the cultural, cognitive, social, political and inter-generational barriers that we face today?
Invited Artists
Erika De Martino, Claudia Di Gangi, Nastia Eliseeva, Shinji Kanki, Liina Kuittinen, Dario Lo Cicero, Giuseppe Lomeo, Nkosilathi Emmanuel Moyo, Egle Oddo, Leonardo Ruvolo. Mohamed Sulaiman, Tomasz Szrama, Timo Tuhkanen, Roi Vaara, Vishnu Vardhani Rajan, Willem Wilhelmus, Oliver Whitehead.
The program includes 3 events:
A seminar, a performance art festival, and an exhibition.
– Day 19.11 from 16:00 to 18:00
at Teatro Garibaldi, via Teatro Garibaldi, 46-56, Palermo.
Seminar: A Present Heritage: Learning the Vocation to Mediation
Artist Egle Oddo will introduce A Present Heritage programme, the artists will be present. Continuing a short seminar will be offered in collaboration with The Mediation and Reparative Justice Operating Unit of Palermo, and with Collective Intelligence group.
Entrance is free and open to everybody.
– Days 22 – 23 – 24.11 from 17:30 to 20:30,
at Palazzo Sambuca at the venue of Dimora OZ cultural association. Entrance is from Piazza Magione in Via Francesco Riso 9.
Some performances will happen outdoors in the historical center of Palermo, precise locations will be announced on this site.
Performance festival: A Present Heritage
The program offers every day different performances.
Entrance is free and open to everybody.
– Days 28.11 to 6.11, open every Thursday and Friday from 17:00 to 20:00
at Palazzo Sambuca at the venue of Dimora OZ cultural association. Entrance is from Piazza Magione in Via Francesco Riso 9.
Art Exhibition: A Present Heritage and Collective Intelligence
The traces left after the performances realised during the festival are installed in the gallery. The exhibition displays an imaginary visualization of the passage of knowledge between different generations.
Entrance is free and open to everybody.
Organisers and Promoters
Idea and coordination of A Present Heritage is by Italian artist Egle Oddo.
Since 2015 she has started a research open to the participation of artists, activists and scientists. The project is called Collective Intelligence, and during the years it has produced a series of events, residencies, exhibitions and cultural exchanges between Finland and Italy, also with the participation to Manifesta 12 in Palermo.
BAM – the Biennial of Mediterranean Archipelago, is a fertile context to present the work of those artists that wish to foster international exchanges. A Present Heritage seems a natural continuation of the cooperation growing and expanding between the professionals of the cultural field in Helsinki and in Palermo.
The participation of Collective Intelligence is supported by Arts Promotion Centre Finland. Partners from Finland: Myymälä2 gallery, Pixelache Helsinki, and the Finnish Embassy in Italy. The partners in Palermo, Dimora Oz and KAD, support the local communication of the event. The University of Palermo supports the scientific research of one of the projects presented. The Mediation and Reparative Justice Operating Unit of Palermo is present at the event with a brief seminar on the importance of mediation for social cohesion. Art critic and writer Lori Adragna has been invited to collaborate with the event through the production of critical texts. Artist Angela Benivegna documents the event.
Cover image by Erika De Martino