OuUnPoïesis

May 11-18, 2014

OuUnPoïesis was the third OuUnPo session dedicated to the topic of “Catastrophe and Heritage” and took place in the small town of Gibellina Nuova (“New Gibellina”), Sicily, a visionary city built by international avant-garde architects and artists after an earthquake destroyed the original town in 1968. The group investigated the modernist artistic and architectural traces that were created in the new city and that are now in a state of abandon due to political weakness and financial problems. Inspired by the original meaning of poïesis, “to make,” this OuUnPo session was set to be a laboratorial platform for the conception of the collective action I Care, You Care, We all Care for Icarus, presented as main event of the local European Night of Museums in the city’s main square. Specially invited guests were present during the session and contributed in different ways to the European Night of Museums.

Organizers

Raffaella della Olga & Claudia Squitieri

Some highlights of the program

The final performance has been conceived collectively in the metaphysical square Sistema delle Piazze whose pavement acted as a grid to create circuits and actions informed by objects.The objects, partly found in Gibellina and partly brought by each OuUnPo member created the score for the performance. Besides the daily laboratory that led to the final performance, the session included research visits and performative explorations of the city of Gibellina and its artistic and architectural patrimony. Claudia Squitieri, organizer of the session, composed the OuUnPo Ballad, a sound piece that we listened to during a collective walk around town, and filmed a “tableu vivant” of the participants set in the land-art masterpiece Il Cretto by Alberto Burri, a concrete surface covering the ruins of the old city of Gibellina. On the European Night of Museums Eve Couturier and Jean-Jacques Palix performed a concert in one of the architectural gems of the city. With these interventions and actions the session aimed at raising awareness of the incredible value of the artistic and architectural legacy of Gibellina.

Participants and Contributors

Yane Calovski, Eve Couturier, Olivia Creed, Raffaella della Olga, Sara Giannini, Per Hüttner, Elena Nemkova, Jacopo Miliani, Jean-Jacques Palix, Valentina Parlato, Natasha Rosling, Claudia Squitieri, Samon Takahashi, Stephen Whitmarsh.

Venues and Partners

Fondazione Orestiadi, C.R.E.S.M. (Economical and Social Research Center for the South).

Supported by Linköpings universitet, CREED