Naima Morelli

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Tag "roma"

gooddeeds2
The warm spring sun has not only been responsible for flushing us TeenPress reporters out of our den in Pietralata. It has also compelled us to engage in the “good deeds” dear to Collodi. My colleague Andrea and I have been sent by our Charlie to the “Good Deeds Day”, an international event which in Rome took place in the Circo Massimo.

Leaving our usual cynicism at home, we tried to understand what was about this day that would remind us to be better people. What we found is that this gathering was an opportunity for associations and organizations to meet and let citizens know of their relentless commitment to the “good”.

Likewise, individuals engaged in ideals could come together. We found out that the idea of what “good” looked like was different for everyone. What was shared though was a great energy – whether it was strawberry-clad evangelical or a Mexican wise woman fighting for an alternative version of their flag, everybody was in high spirits. Enjoy the video!

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We are back with a new report from the Palazzo delle Esposizioni in Rome, where we followed a workshop for children inspired  by the exhibition “Il Giardino di Matisse”, currently on in the Museum. This show displays the original art from the namesake book by writer Samantha Friedman and Italian illustrator Cristina Amodeo, who reinterpreted the work by Henri Matisse.

The book was created for the exhibition “Henri Matisse: The Cut Outs” at MoMA. This was part of a new project by the NY museum, consisting in publishing a book for every large show linked to its collection, and a collaboration with several houses national and international publishing houses. For Italy it’s Fatatrac.

The osmotic process ended up in this workshop at Palazzo delle Esposizioni, where children were trying their hand at the collage, helped by their parents. The workshop was in fact aimed at family – so that art can become a way to spend quality time together. Enjoy the video! (in Italian)

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technotown
Who would ever expect to find a technology  wonderland right in the heart of the Villa Torlonia, Rome? Learning through play is the motto of Technotown, a building dedicated to children and teenagers to experiment with technology, nature and creativity.

Technotown consists in nine rooms equipped with different technologies, from Lego Mindstorms to the first plant ever to have a twitter profile. In this place children are no longer approaching technology in a mindless and lazy way. They are rather using it to imagine a sustainable future and developing new ideas.

I visited the place for a video report for the news agency Teenpress, guided by Technotown’s manager  Gabriele Catanzaro. It has been a blast of energy and excitement. Technotown is the sort of place which reinforces my hopes for a better future. In their own little world, Technotown is forging a new generation of lateral thinkers and innovators. It’s a thing of beauty! And now for the video…

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Twenty-fifteen has been an intense year full of cheerfulness, discovery and adventure – I feel I learned so much! For starters I reconquered Rome, which I re-elected as my base (I keep on saying “for the time being”, but truth is, I’m in love with this city). Since I installed in my bedroom in San Lorenzo – the left-leaning, working-class neighborhood of Rome – I felt a new chapter of my life had started.

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tiburtino
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!

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locandinapic
Thursday, June 25 at 5pm the Library of Oriental Studies at Sapienza University of Rome  will host the presentation of the book  “Arte Contemporanea in Indonesia, un’introduzione” by Naima Morelli. The presentation will be introduced by Filippo Salviati, professor of Eastern Asia archeology, art history and philosophies, with the partecipation of Michela Becchis, art critic and art historian, Francesca Gallo, professor of contemporary art, and Claudio Cozzolino, Press Office at Embassy of Indonesia to the Holy See.

The book is an introduction to Indonesian contemporary art, which now occupies a prominent place in the international art scene, from both a market and cultural standpoint. Placing itself in the dialectic between the global and the local, the book analyzes how in Indonesia the cultural, artistic, political and social context have influenced four generations of artists. The author guides the reader in the contemporary art places in Yogyakarta, Jakarta, Bandung and Bali, looking for the answer to the question: is there really something called Indonesian contemporary art?

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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. 

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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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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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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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Sooo… updates from my life! In the middle of my usual freelance hustling and my book launch, I have also took a new collaboration on. I’m talking about my debut as video journalist for a news agency run by a cultural association in Rome, an experience which I find both exciting and challenging. The whole team is great; they are genuine, interesting and friendly people. Then of course, talking and doing interviews in front of a camera is a relatively new experience for me. Prior to that, I’ve only took part in a series of video interviews in artists’ studios, but here I’m basically presenting the whole thing. The guys have been merciful and my first report has been about an event at MAXXI, the contemporary art museum of Rome – so at least I was playing in my home court.

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artapartd'o

Here’s my first published piece of two thousand and fifteen! Is there a more wonderful way to kick off the new year than an interview with curator Roberto D’Onorio and his project at Rialto Sant’Ambrogio in Rome?

Roberto is not just one of the most articulated and sensitive curators I know, he’s also a dear friend. This interview is already known in the sketchiest Roman art circles as the “notorious Naples interview” and it has been a lot of fun to do. It has been published by the Italian web magazine Art a Part of Cult(ure) with the title “L’immaginazione per reinventare la felicità” namely “The imagination to reinvent happiness”.

If you haven’t been to the Rialto Sant’Ambrogio yet, you totally should. It’s straight-up amazing! And now for the article:

Here’s the link to the interview (in Italian)

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