In spring 2024, the Matera-Basilicata 2019 Foundation organized the traveling exhibition of arts and the environment “Rizomatica. Nuove forme di coesistenza” (Rizomatic. New forms of coexistence), curated by Imma Tralli and Roberto Pontecorvo of Marea Art Project, with the patronage of the Municipalities of Matera, Moliterno and Pisticci. The program includes events and artistic residences that deal with the themes of the environment and climate change. Inviting artists who use different languages, the festival aims to reach a wide audience and develop new forms of coexistence between man and nature.
Through a co-creation project led by the artist Andrea Conte (Andreco), in collaboration with the Matera-based Aps Noi Ortadini, the art residency aimed to create, within a strategic space of the neighborhood gardens managed by the association, a site-specific intervention inspired by the Tree Room, a project born within the Climate Art Project that merges art, science and climate justice. Noi Ortadini APS, is a social promotion association, located in the heart of the Serra Venerdì neighborhood in Matera. The organization’s work consists of the regeneration of abandoned lands to be returned to the community through sustainable agricultural practices. The space managed by the association was chosen for its crucial role, thanks also to its capacity for social aggregation, as an ideal place to intensify activities to raise the awareness of environmental issues.
During the residency, the inhabitants of the neighborhood were invited to take an active part in the organization of the space through collective action, with the aim of involving the users of the place in its creation and future maintenance. Cyanotype and ecoprinting workshops for children and adults were also organized at the LUC (Laboratorio urban center) in the Spine Bianche neighborhood. The courses, directed by Daniele Cimaglia and Anna Roberti, were designed to extend and deepen the knowledge and potential of wild herbs through a creative point of view. The artist Andreco also gave a public talk on the relationship between art and climate justice.
The residency ended with the inauguration of an art installation, a seat made in an octagonal shape around a tree, using the modular structures of the Matera 2019 Open Design School, with the aim of creating a space for standing, used for sociality, aggregation and environmental education. The structure was designed to encourage processes of environmental regeneration of the place and improve the quality of life of human and non-human inhabitants through moments of social aggregation, environmental education and interchange between human beings and the surrounding ecosystem. The inauguration was a collective celebration, open to the whole community, which was able to interact with the installation and visit the exhibition set up with the works created during the workshops.
The OASI installation has become a meeting place for the community of Serra Venerdì neighborhood. Workshops with people of all ages, informal gatherings, moments of music and jam-sessions come to life around the installation in the presence of the tree-teacher. It may be said that the intent of the artist and his collaborators succeeded and exceeded their expectations. Certainly also thanks to the association Noi Ortadini and the aggregation ability of them and all those involved in the residency project.
