A few weeks ago one of the coolest festivals in Rome took place at Forte Prenestino, an ex-jail turned occupied centro sociale. CRACK Fumetti Dirompenti is devoted to independent publications, comics, street art, zines, graphic work, art and books. This has been by far the more fun report for TeenPress; I have found so many friends joining the festival, each one looking for something different and getting a variety of inputs from the event. The theme this year was “The Capital”, alluding to the recent Italian scandal of Roma Capitale, but also to the relationship of artists with economic powers and dynamics. Enjoy the video (plus a couple of pictures below).
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Tiburtino III, Rome. In a neighborhood deprived of green areas, a small park is everything to kids and their families. This park has been built in the seventies, putting down buildings to make room to play. For TeenPress my colleague Ornella and I followed a party in the park organized by the Ludobus – a bus bringing old-school games to the peripheries of Rome. We sat with the people coming to bring their kids to the park and with regular dwellers. Tiburtino III is definitely a tough neighborhood, but the sense of community and the presence of people with incredible faces and attitude, makes it really welcoming and super-interesting! As you can tell from my jolly attitude from moment one in the video, we had loads of fun! Just get to the end of the video to see the bloopers… ah, Romans from the outskirt! You are so damn charming!
While with our fluttering dresses and carefree attitude we might not look like the toughest girls on the block, we gals of TeenPress love the borgata. So this time around we ventured to San Basilio, one of the most difficult neighborhoods of Rome. While San Basilio has a cozy architecture and great graffiti pieces, it is mostly talked about for its crime, killings and drug trade. In making this report my colleague Ornella and I had a couple of weird experiences ourselves. From a group of shirtless guys throwing clothespins at us from a window, to kids on scooters intimating us to put away our camera, not everybody was so friendly. At the same time, in the Centro Aldo Fabrizi we found an oasis of peace and protection. We documented the activities of the center in this video, hoping that it will be able to keep on growing a new generation of responsible and caring adults.
When I first came to Rome, I had my head full of Pasolini. I was in love with the idea of the borgata, but I ended up living in the more central Piazza Vittorio – which was pretty cool as well, but for other reasons – Chinese mafia anyone? Back then I was continuously thinking about the borgata with this sort of detached romanticism, but never dared to go there to explore it that much. Six years later – six months ago as I’m writing this – I went for a job interview with the news agency TeenPress. I was thrilled to know they were located in Pietralata, one of the historic borgate of Rome. But even then, for a long time I didn’t went beyond the short walk from the bus station to the door of the TeenPress office.
This report, dubbed “Pietralata Mon Amour”, gave us the chance to go deeper into the history of the neighborhood. The students of the local high school, together with the project Area Agio and the association GoTellGo, developed an app (called APPietralata) to explore Pietralata. It is a sort of audio guide which activates by walking around the neighborhood. I find this kind of projects just awesome on so many levels, and in the video below we explain why…
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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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Uk/Aussie webmagazine ArtsHub has just published my article “Australia’s biggest year at Venice” about the Australian presence at the Venice Biennale 2015 – which is unprecedented in terms of numbers and critical success. It was great to see these talented artists exhibit in the one of the world’s most prestigious events and have a chat with them over coffee… or ice cream.
Here’s the link to the article
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I’m back home after five days in Venice for the 56th Biennale di Venezia, reporting the event for ArtsHub and realizing interviews for Art a Part of Cult(ure). I had a great time, meet with extraordinary people and lost myself in the maze of narrow streets. Venice is so beautiful it cannot be. Between the pavilions, the “All the World’s Futures” show and the collateral exhibitions, the Biennale was overwhelming. So much great work around you couldn’t believe! I didn’t nearly get to see everything I wanted to see. Just like everyone, at the end of this tour de force I had my feet completely broken and I laid sick in bed for a couple of days. But even then, the spirit was high and I now I feel incredibly energized, happy and ready to take on the world! While you’ll see my articles about the Biennale coming out in the next few days (my personal selection for ArtsHub, the Indonesian pavilion on the Manifesto and the Australians in Venice are already out) here’s the visual counterpoint.
Uk/Aussie webmagazine ArtsHub has just published my highlights from the 56th Venice Biennale. With so much good work around and so many interesting shows it has been difficult to narrow down my selection to ten… but here we go!
Here’s the link to the article
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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)
My review of the Art Paris Art Fair (in Italian) has just been published on the web magazine Art a Part of Culture with the title “South East Asia in Paris. If we are not going to Singapore, Singapore is coming to us”. In the article I go into the role of Singapore as a hub for South East Asia, as discussed in an interesting talk at the fair, and the other related events going on in France at the moment.
Here’s the link to the article
If you are new to that and want to start learning about contemporary art in South East Asia, I have a book (in Italian) who gives an introduction about Indonesian contemporary art. Find more about it here.
I have just came back from two weeks in Paris. It has been an incredible time. I was there for the Art Paris Art Fair and the exhibition Secret Archipelago at the Palais De Tokyo – yet again on a reporting mission for Art a Part of Cult(ure), the Italian magazine I write for. My boss at Art a Part is the M to my Bond, the Charlie to my Angels, the Xavier to my X-Men, well, you get my drift! In Paris I’ve met with a number of interesting people and had chats with artists I wanted to talk to from a long time, including Eddie Hara and Richard Streitmatter-Tran.
The first week has been a whirlwind of interviews. I already knew what it means to do three interviews in a day – I did it before, and it was crazy! But five interviews in a day? That’s don’t-try-this-at-home insane! Luckily enough, I generally feel energized by working under pressure. Plus, all the artists and gallerists I talked with have been super nice. I can’t wait to share their interviews with you! In this situation it also helped to have the most amazing sidekick a journalist can ever had, a gorgeous Sorrentinian gal called Marta, who also hosted me in Paris. We jumped from metro to metro chatting endlessly about everything from Catilina (ancient republican Rome anyone?) to haircuts, all that while chewing a pan au chocolat (aux amandes, aux pistaches…) and rushing to the next interview.
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The Australian webmagazine RAVEN has just published my guide to the art galleries in Rome – I wish I has something like this when I first came to the Eternal city! But I’ve to say, it has been an amazing quest to discover all the galleries little by little – my constant practice as a vernissage gal has finally paid off! For this guide I’ve planned an itinerary which includes meals and gelato breaks. If you are in really a good mood you might get to visit all the galleries enlisted in one go!
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