ARTE CONTEMPORANEA E ARCHEOLOGIA
Residenza In-ruins 2023, Parco Archeologico di Sibari, Deposta di Traslochi Emotivi, con Giulia Currà e Danila Gambettola,‘ Foto: Akshay Mahajan.
About
Nato in Calabria e promosso da Associazione Archeofuturo dal 2018, In-ruins è un programma itinerante di residenze artistiche dedicato a esplorare l’incontro tra arte contemporanea e archeologia. Attraverso il temporaneo insediamento di artisti, curatori e ricercatori in prossimità di siti monumentali del Sud Italia, In-ruins ripensa il territorio a partire dal suo passato. Antiche rovine diventano luoghi di incontro, capaci di accogliere pratiche urgenti e dialoghi interdisciplinari, nel cuore di contesti periferici. Radicato in una prospettiva post-meridiana e mediterranea, il progetto mira a valorizzare non solo il patrimonio archeologico, ma anche i miti, le tradizioni e le storie delle comunità che da sempre lo abitano e lo custodiscono.
In-ruins è diretto da Nicola Guastamacchia (residenze) e Maria Luigia Gioffrè (sezione performance), con la curatela di Nicola Nitido. Dal 2023 la residenza è sviluppata in collaborazione con Fondazione Elpis, Milano.
![AnnaulJournal_[FondazioneElpis]_22novembre_Draft4.pdfINRUINS2 (2).jpg](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/23ab1a_6221f5cb85124f8b9248eb0cf99a2a16~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_980,h_694,al_c,q_85,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_avif,quality_auto/23ab1a_6221f5cb85124f8b9248eb0cf99a2a16~mv2.jpg)
Come funziona
Negli ultimi anni, In-ruins si è affermato come uno dei programmi di residenza più innovativi e originali nel panorama italiano, grazie a un approccio sperimentale che intreccia arte contemporanea e archeologia. A differenza di molte iniziative simili, non abbiamo una sede fissa: ogni anno ci trasferiamo in una nuova località, scegliendo un sito archeologico diverso da cui partire. Questo formato nomade ci permette di attivare processi di ricerca artistica in contesti spesso marginali o complessi, mostrando come sia possibile generare riflessioni significative lontano dai centri consolidati. Ogni tappa del progetto si inserisce in un percorso in continua trasformazione, che crea connessioni tra geografie e temporalità distanti. Ogni edizione nasce da un progetto di ricerca pubblica, sviluppato insieme a istituzioni archeologiche locali. Le nostre call definiscono assi tematici precisi, che guidano gli artisti nell’esplorazione dei molteplici strati storici e culturali dei luoghi che attraversiamo.
Esploriamo orizzonti e pratiche situate e post-meridiane.
In-ruins è un progetto pilota e un modello sperimentale di buona pratica che mette in relazione arte contemporanea, patrimonio culturale e territori marginali, con un'attenzione particolare al contesto mediterraneo. Radicato nel Sud Italia, nasce in risposta alla carenza di istituzioni dedicate alla cultura contemporanea, attivando i siti archeologici attraverso la ricerca e la produzione artistica. La residenza valorizza storie locali e collettive, trasformandole in occasioni di riflessione e innescando un senso di orgoglio e appartenenza nelle comunità che ci ospitano. Attraverso la creazione di flussi economici sostenibili e l’elaborazione di alternative al turismo estrattivo, In-ruins dimostra come le aree periferiche possano diventare centrali nella ridefinizione del ruolo dell’arte nella costruzione di narrazioni mediterranee più inclusive e critiche.
![Introducing FANNY SOUADE SOW
SELECTED ARTIST IN-RUINS RESIDENCY 2024
“In a recently published text, Elsa Dorlin wrote, “In parallel to this war of words in which the imposing of linguistic elements on violence consists in reversing the relationship between cause and effect [...], there is this silence as a weapon so characteristic of the contemporary period in which the very suspension of any official communiqué plays on the primary recognition of the reality of facts, and quite simply erases lives from the reality.”
Fanny Souade Sow thus questions how monuments – from memorials to statues, as well as other cultural heritage intended for commemoration or remembrance – become the vehicles of an authorised and controlled narrative, defending a certain legitimised vision of History. Whether in the form of editions, sculptures, performances or video, she questions the effects of colonial heritage on racialized bodies.
His works have recently been exhibited in group exhibitions including at FRAC Franche-Comté (Besançon) and KADIST (Paris), the Galerie Eric Dupont (Paris) and the 66th Salon de Montrouge. In January 2022, she benefited from a first solo exhibition at RECYCLART (Brussels). She has been a resident at SAW Gallery (Ottawa, Canada), CAC Brétigny (France) and Glasgow Sculpture Studios x Centre for Contemporary Arts (Glasgow, Scotland). She is currently resident at the Marseille Workshops Places (France) for the years 2023 - 2025. In 2024, she took part in the 15th Biennale de la jeune création at La Graineterie, Houilles.”
📸 Aurélien Mathis
In-ruins 2024 is hosted by Matera National Museums and organised in collaboration with Fondazione Elpis.
@museinazionalidimatera
@fondazioneelpis
@souadesow](https://scontent-sea5-1.cdninstagram.com/v/t39.30808-6/471192277_18286125922243822_4074084699202677454_n.jpg?stp=dst-jpg_e35_tt6&_nc_cat=110&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=18de74&_nc_ohc=kidRMdjeFo8Q7kNvwG1WLeo&_nc_oc=AdnOOHcuTVYVNXFJhYgLyb7MylcuHcAsxGmHHmOp4XFzs0DA1XfeOkys5Vpg3ye4Ljs&_nc_zt=23&_nc_ht=scontent-sea5-1.cdninstagram.com&edm=ANo9K5cEAAAA&_nc_gid=szXQwt-UTI1j1gXomUVYEw&oh=00_AfRKhGcfD9otjHH6X3RqbkZpOknoQeIT86GVMs_UI6hV-g&oe=687E3557)
![OPEN CALL
⏳ deadline 07/07
📍link in BIO
@museinazionalidimatera
@fondazioneelpis
🔎 RESEARCH AXES🔎
3. APOIKIA AND DECOLONIZATION
The Greeks used the term apoikia [ἀπ-οικία, “home away from home”] to refer to a newly founded polis created by the settlement of a group of citizens in distant lands, aiming to establish a community independent from the metropolis [μήτηρ + πόλις = “mother city”] of origin. The Greeks carried with them their language, customs, and mythologies, but they did not expand the territorial authority of the motherland. From this itinerancy a civilization tradition was born: not a mere geopolitical dominance. In contrast, modern colonizations were characterized by the annexation, control, and exploitation of new lands. The inherent dynamism of ancient Greek apoikia is inspiring in our time of rampant nationalisms. What ideas can we draw from these stories of independence, freedom of movement?
4. HELEN’S EGG
In the summer of 1986, the Archaeological Superintendency of Basilicata acquired a tomb assemblage of exceptional interest roughly dated 5th century BC. Among the artifacts, a small sculpture depicting an egg from which a female figure emerges, and an anthropomorphic pendant representing a male and a female figure on opposite faces.There are no direct comparisons with these sculptures.The first is a representation of the mythical birth of Helen (of Troy or Sparta) from the egg resulting from the union of Zeus and the goddess Nemesis. The second amulet could be connected to a philosophical-religious conception of the unity of opposites and in a rare representation of Phanes [Light], the primordial deity of Orphic cosmogony, also born from an egg laid by Chronos [Time] and Ananke [Necessity]. The sculptures may suggest that, at the end of the 5th century, forms of mystic spirituality specific to the female sphere had developed in Metaponto, leading to the birth of actual thiasoi: associations of women. Inspired by these unique artifacts, is it possible to reinterpret the egg— a fertile entity containing both genders— and the myth of Helen— divine, victim, guilty— as symbols and metaphors for current gender claims?
ITA ⬇️](https://scontent-sea1-1.cdninstagram.com/v/t39.30808-6/470672918_18286114174243822_8931737180376417565_n.jpg?stp=dst-jpg_e35_tt6&_nc_cat=104&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=18de74&_nc_ohc=Inu263SpBKUQ7kNvwHjrNt1&_nc_oc=AdlMjkUBwhPeCosuRu4K6lRNh0uZQn1osLZxZ4gHtllUuDOcIlY1UEcJb9bqFMwNfGU&_nc_zt=23&_nc_ht=scontent-sea1-1.cdninstagram.com&edm=ANo9K5cEAAAA&_nc_gid=szXQwt-UTI1j1gXomUVYEw&oh=00_AfR7Z8HeEOi4_y6VdOxKde9H9pydcfO2zhGsE6f9zjuEqw&oe=687E30FE)
![In-ruins residency 2024
OPEN CALL
⏳ deadline 07/07
📍link in BIO
hosted by @museinazionalidimatera
in collaboration with @fondazioneelpis
🏺 CONTEXT 🏺
Metaponto was one of the most important colonies of Magna Graecia. Located on the coast of the Gulf of Taranto, in the plain bordered by the Basento and Bradano rivers, the ancient city was built in-between mountains and the sea. The settlement was founded by Achaeans around the mid-7th century BC. The origin of the name is uncertain. According to some, it can be traced back to the ancient hero Metabos, confirming the mythical pre-Achaean foundation by the Pelesgians led by Nestor, who were shipwrecked after the victorious siege of Troy. According to other genealogies, the etymology should be emphasized. In this sense, μετά (τόν) πόντον [metá (tón) pónton] could poetically mean both “city beyond the sea” and, more unlikely, “city between two rivers”.
The population of Metaponto presented among the highest degrees of ethnic interaction with the indigenous communities present in the territory. It minted its own currency and had an agricultural sector counting thousands of farms. It is no coincidence that the symbol of the city was a wheat ear, and it is said that a precious “golden harvest” was donated to the sanctuary of Apollo in Delphi. Apollo and Hera were indeed the main deities worshiped in the city. One of the monumental structures still visitable on the shores of the Bradano River is the Temple of the Palatine Tables, dedicated to Hera. Passed-down stories tell that Epeius, the mythical builder of the Trojan Horse, was buried here; and, in the same place, Pythagoras established his philosophical school upon his exile from Croton.
The city allied with Sybaris in the war that led to the destruction of Siris (530 BC) and participated in the subsequent annihilation of Sybaris itself by the Crotoniates (510 BC). Following the weakening of the Achaean alliance in the Ionian Sea, it underwent the rise of Taranto’s power in the following centuries, entering a phase of growing political uncertainty.
Images courtesy Direzione Regionale Musei Nazionali della Basilicata.
ITA in comments](https://scontent-sea1-1.cdninstagram.com/v/t51.29350-15/448612271_1659150868179772_6158784461813825016_n.jpg?stp=dst-jpg_e35_tt6&_nc_cat=101&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=18de74&_nc_ohc=RFBqx-MJcJ4Q7kNvwGRvrd9&_nc_oc=AdlEmtHlzwRRTQTtFaoCdEvYuHypCvFiMHiCSbYG_7ExeXV9IM3ate-d5SGVKkIUQPI&_nc_zt=23&_nc_ht=scontent-sea1-1.cdninstagram.com&edm=ANo9K5cEAAAA&_nc_gid=szXQwt-UTI1j1gXomUVYEw&oh=00_AfRQLUkpSYt65_QuZh8Pj7kaS1F2Hwowy4bE7DYo4qOtuw&oe=687E30C8)
