Naima Morelli

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Interview

TimesMaltaSpirtuPront
Article number five for the Times of Malta! Here I talk with Australian artists Sonia Leber and David Chesworth, who are researching the Maltese community in St Albans, a suburb of Melbourne, for their new video projects called “One from Mosta, Two from Zabbar”. Having always worked with sound in their art, the duo was interested both in the technical aspect and the social valence on Spirtu Pront.

“The singing is extremely skillful, in a loud and tightly strained voice, exemplifying Malta’s dual Arabic and European influences.” they explain “The ritual incorporates a cadenza where everyone respectfully renounces their insults and emphatically reconfirms the need for friendship.” In their video project the artists are interested in presenting this form of singing ritualised arguments as a positive social force and as a metaphor for the resolution of conflict in the public space.

Here’s the link to the article

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gcrekorennie

My interview with Australian artist Reko Rennie has just been published on the webmagazine Global Comment with the title “Aboriginal Royalty at the Venice Biennale: Interview with artist Reko Rennie”. This interview is part part of my research about artists in Melbourne.

Here’s the link to the article

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taiji1
The second part of our report for TeenPress “Apriti al Mondo”, is centered on the activities of the association “Apriti Sesamo”, aimed to promote cultural integration. We visited the school Ciamician in Rebibbia, at the periphery of Rome, where Chinese dancer and educator Mei JiaoYin practices Taiji Qigong with a group of unruly Roman kids. At the end of the report my colleague Valeria and I were so excited we wanted to give it a shot ourselves. And now for the video (in Italian)…

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raven3
The Australian webmagazine RAVEN has just published my interview with Melbourne artist Sam Leach. I met Sam at Palazzo Bembo, in Venice, and we talked about the artist’s work in Personal Structures, a collateral exhibition to the Venice Biennale.

Here’s the link to the article

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sesamo1
It’s an endlessly fascinating world for a restless gal. So here’s a new video for TeenPress, the news agency based in Pietralata I’m collaborating with as interviewer. I have to admit I’m enjoying this job more and more, as I get to discover new realities I wouldn’t have otherwise encountered – let alone interact with. For example, I have been living in Rome since 2009, but I have to admit have never been to Rebibbia. I mean, why would I? This periphery of Rome is known just for its prison, and nothing more – at least that’s what I thought.

What we find out is that Rebibbia is an extremely multicultural area. No doubt multiculturalism is awesome, but clearly there are many problematics attached to it. Especially when it comes to education. In this report we explore the great job of integration the association Apriti Sesamo is doing at the local school Palombini. We hear from teachers, educators and children.

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raven2

The Australian webmagazine RAVEN has just published my interview with Melbourne artist Penny Byrne. I met Penny at Palazzo Franchetti, in Venice, and we talked about the artist’s work in Glasstress, an official Biennale satellite exhibition.

Here’s the link to the article

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heridonoweb

My article on Voyage Trokomod, Heri Dono’s work for the Venice Biennale, has just been published on Alias – the special edition of the Italian newspaper Il Manifesto – with the title “Between horse and Komodo dragon – the bestiary between east and west”. It is a great honour for me to contribute to Il Manifesto, which had such an important history! If you live in Italy I recommend you to grab a copy of Alias in the newsstands; this edition is all about the Biennale. I’ll be off to Venice next week and look forward to meet Heri and the curators from the Indonesian Pavilion in Venice.

Here’s the link to the online version of the article

For a thorough introduction to Indonesian contemporary art, have a look at my book (in Italian). Find more about it here.

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sabong1
A waterfall, tropical plants and artisan workshops. Who would ever guess to find all that straight out of the Laurentina metro station – the infamous Rome metro B terminal? Thanks to the art of young artist Alessandro Sabong – who painted Laurentina’s stairway – that is precisely what you will see. From his beginnings as a street artist, Alessandro attended two different painting courses before entering the prestigious Scuola d’Arte della Medaglia della Zecca dello Stato. In this third video realized with Roman news agency TeenPress, we talk to an everyday guy with a curiosity and willingness to experiment out of the norm. And now for the video (in Italian)

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Timesofmemorieurbane
I have been writing for magazines since 2007, but the excitement to see my articles out in the world never wears out! So here I am again on the Sunday edition of the Times of Malta. This piece is about Memorie Urbane, one of the biggest street art festivals in Europe, which takes place all over the Lazio region in Italy. I recently had a chat with Festival’s founder-curator and cultural entrepreneur Davide Rossillo.

Here’s the link to the article

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artshub4
Uk/Aussie webmagazine ArtsHub has just published my article on community-funded journalism. I feel today is particularly important – and sometimes also fun -for journalist to keep up with the changes in the industry. Besides, after researching for this article I’m almost tempted to give crowdfunding a go!

Here’s the link to the interview

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memograffititunis
British webmagazine Middle East Monitor has just published my interview with Italian researcher Luce Lacquaniti, author of the upcoming book “I Muri di Tunisi: Segni di Rivolta” (The Walls of Tunis: Signs of Revolt). I walked away from interviewing Luce inspired and excited – she is extremely knowledgeable and passionate with her subject matter. Plus her research has all the elements that I’ve always loved – the people, the art and the revolution. I really can’t wait for her book to come out!

Here’s the link to the interview

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tp1a
Here I am with my inevitable red hat, in the third video realized by the news agency TeenPress. In a previous post I already mentioned my participation to this project by the association Arciragazzi Roma, targeted to young adults. Questionable logo, but heaps of passion. For this report I interview the people behind the publishing house Biancoenero. In Italy they have been the first to create children books marked by what they call “high readability”. That means books easily readable by kids affected by dyslexia, cognitive problems or simply “reluctant readers”. It’s always such fun realizing these reports and it gives us also a chance to sneak into amazing Roman buildings. And now for the video (in Italian)

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