15.12.2023 \\ 16.12.2023
Workshop curated by Ambra Viviani and Alessandro Schiattarella.
Exploring the depths of human connections through orality and movement, WITH LOVE opens us to a new experience of awareness. Through the investigation of how language shapes the understanding of love and vice versa, the workshop aims to break through conventional barriers of language, considering the latter not only as words, but as a flow of movement in the world, an authentic connection with others. Challenging preceptive and predictive narratives about love communication, the intent is to promote a more nuanced, diverse and cooperative understanding.
WITH LOVE is an artist-lead research, based on collective practice, and synthesizes epistemological investigations in an intermediate space between interpersonal relationships and embodied knowledge. Inspired by the enlightening thoughts of Anne Carson, Maria Zambrano, Luce Irigaray, and bell hooks, WITH LOVE addresses the construction of loving communication and its personal and social impact, understood not only as communication of love, but especially with love.
This workshop, an integral part of the research of its two curators, artists Ambra Viviani and Alessandro Schiattarella, offers a valuable opportunity to explore aspects that are complex to investigate with the usual academic approaches, contributing to the broader debate on the role of art in research and creating collective meaning; to challenge dominant narratives and promotes a more diverse, empathetic and cooperative discourse.
The workshop is part of doctoral research at ZHdK Zurich and Kunstuniversität Linz.
Workshop realized in collaboration with Fondazione Morra Greco and with the support of IfCAR – Institute for Contemporary Art Research of the Department of Fine Arts, University of the Arts Zurich.
Programme
The workshop took place over two days, December 15 and 16, 2023 from 2 to 6 p.m. at Palazzo Caracciolo in Avellino, headquarter of the Fondazione Morra Greco.
The activities opened by “warming up the space” with an exploration of movement, in an attempt to reveal the language underlying bodily actions. We did not limit ourselves to conventional analysis, but sought to understand how the body speaks and communicates the feeling of love.
Next phase was the examination of the mouth. Through gestures, expressions and the power of spoken words, we delved into the most intimate territory of human relationships, trying to decipher the love language expressed through the mouth.
The final phase of the workshop led us toward the dimension of speech and writing, in which the ways in which lived experiences can be translated into language and how this process influences our understanding and communication of love were analyzed, starting with the reading of authors such as Anne Carson, Maria Zambrano, Luce Irigaray and Bell Hooks, promoting a more diverse, empathic and cooperative discourse on loving communication.
Participants
The workshop was open to artists and researchers from a variety of disciplines, as well as to anyone fascinated by delving into affective issues and love discourse regardless of their professional background or level of experience.
Accessibility: the workshop was also accessible to people with mobility disabilities.
NOTE: Participants were asked to wear comfortable, warm, layered clothing and to bring a mirror.
Workshop curators
Ambra Viviani (Naples, 1993) is a visual artist based between Naples and Basel. She received a master’s degree in visual arts from FHNW Basel in 2017 and a bachelor’s degree from the Brera Academy in Milan in 2014; she founded the artist-run space Giulietta in Basel (2020-), and curates the radio show “OTTERS HOLDING HANDS” (2022-) for Lumpen Station. She is currently a doctoral candidate at ZHdK Zurich and Kunstuniversität Linz, with a research on the de/re-construction of love discourse. Sometimes she is Minne de Curtis.
Alessandro Schiattarella (Naples, 1982) is a disabled performer and choreographer living in Basel, where he received a master’s degree in visual arts from FHNW in 2017. After working as a professional dancer in several international companies (including Bejart Ballet Lausanne, Ballett Basel, and Scapino Ballet Rotterdam), in recent years he has used choreography to explore new artistic methods and languages, with the aim of understanding, exposing, and dismantling abiliste perspectives in mainstream dance and art.