The 2024 edition of LAIV Festival – Live Interpretive Arts Laboratory of the high schools of Lombardy and the provinces of Novara and VCO will take place simultaneously in two different places, in Varese, managed by Karakorum SRL social enterprise and in Cantù (Co), managed by Mondovisione. The Festival is scheduled from 20 to 24 May.
LAIV – Live Interpretive Arts Laboratory is a project of the Cariplo Foundation, in collaboration with the Etre Cultural Association, the Alchemilla Social Cooperative and the University of Pavia, born with the aim of supporting the creation and development of performing arts laboratories within the institutes, so as to promote the cultural protagonism of students. Over the years it has involved almost 40 thousand students, 2000 teachers and over 300 schools.
This year the festival will involve 80 schools, for around 2,500 people, including students, teachers and operators, coming from the entire Lombardy region and the provinces of Novara and Verbano-Cusio-Ossola.
Enzo Laforgia, Councilor for Culture of the Municipality of Varese: «A project that is aimed at developing skills in adolescents which must then be translated into a training and growth path. It is therefore an important opportunity that allows boys and girls to get involved, experiment with new skills, relate and plan together with their peers. The contamination between different school curricula is also an interesting opportunity for discussion for students and teachers.”
Maria Chiara Baretta of the Cariplo Foundation: «LAIVin is a historic project of the Cariplo Foundation, a flagship for our Foundation. We are very happy that this year the LAIVin Action Festival will be held simultaneously in the two municipalities of Varese and Cantù. LAIVin includes a call for secondary schools in the Lombardy region and in the provinces of Novara and the VCO for the creation of live performing arts workshops, in collaboration with cultural operators. The main aim is to encourage the protagonism of our children and the development of their skills, not only scholastic but also personal and active citizenship. A project that is part of the educational programs of the Cariplo Foundation, as part of the work of the Commission and the Art and Culture Area, which we care a lot about as it moves in the direction of strengthening the educational offer of local schools . The heart of the initiative is the participation of the children; at the center are their wishes regarding the creative process, the workshops and the festival, which remains the opportunity for all the schools participating in the project to meet and share the work done”.
Antonio Franzi, press office of the Varese Chamber of Commerce: «Among the commitments of the Chamber of Commerce in the 2023/2028 multi-year program, in addition to sustainability, there is attention towards the new generations and attractiveness: we want to help young people who reside and who come here to study and find opportunities and job opportunities to develop their skills in favor of the Varese socio-economic system. A project like this is fully part of the organisation’s commitment to making the most of the new generations.”
The LAIV In Action festival
The LAIVin Action Festival is in fact a space that encourages the protagonism of young people, a space for discussion, for debate starting from the themes covered in their shows, for meeting, also in the name of the arts, theater and music.
A relaxed space for enjoying shows and various activities. In Varese and Cantù (CO), the LAIVin Action Festival (which in its previous editions stopped in Milan and Treviglio) sees moments of entertainment and sharing, where the real protagonists are the kids. The heart of the event is represented by the marathon of shows proposed by the students and created during the workshops activated during the school year, thus offering an experience of live performing arts and more.
The fulcrum of the entire day will be the lunch break as a moment of meeting between the schools present in the morning and those on stage in the afternoon: a sort of agora in which participants will be able to choose, in total autonomy, how to spend their time.
Karakorum SRL social enterprise and Mondovisione offer children various activities, or simply the possibility of enjoying a moment of relaxation. In that period of time, theater workshops, jam sessions, debates, immersive and interactive paths to imagine the future, photography and music workshops and also a round table that compares new generations and adults are offered. All
this traveling on the Cantù-Varese double track, for a festival in two similar locations, without one being a copy of the other, in connection as much as possible.
In Varese, the LAIVin Action Festival (which in its previous editions stopped in Brescia, Lecco, Milan and Treviglio) will be managed by Karakorum SRL, a social enterprise that will inhabit the spaces of the Salone Estense and in the spaces of the Municipal Library.
Of the 70 schools involved in the project this year, 40 institutes will be present in Varese, for a total of more than 1,200 people, including students, teachers and operators, coming from all over Lombardy and the provinces of Novara and Verbano-Cusio-Ossola ( around 300 people per day).
In Cantù (CO), the Festival will be managed by Mondovisione and will involve Teatro Comunale San Teodoro, Spazio Sant’Ambrogio and Villa Calvi (both inside and in the outdoor park). Of the 80 schools involved, 40 will be present in Cantù; a festive invasion of over a thousand people, including students, teachers and operators, coming from all over Lombardy and the provinces of Novara and Verbano-Cusio-Ossola.
The project is carried out by Karakorum Srl social enterprise and Mondovisione social cooperative, in collaboration with the ETRE Association. The project is supported and financed by the Cariplo Foundation, and sponsored by the Municipality of Varese and the Municipality of Cantù. With the patronage of the Varese Chamber of Commerce.
Varese, the round table and workshops dedicated to students
Stunt Performer
Learn stage combat to create YOUR scene by Stunt Gym srl Explore the world of theatrical action with a Stage Combat workshop! You will learn the basic techniques of stunt performers and discover adrenaline, fun and technique. Test your creativity as you learn to create action sequences for your show.
Here and now
Performative and interactive laboratory “towards infinity and beyond” by Bluesheep Lab – Karakorum SRL social enterprise of Allegra De Mandato and Riccardo Tabilio Qui e Ora is an immersive and interactive laboratory in headphones, in which participants will be guided on a journey interspatial and temporal which will lead them to reflect on the future by “playing” with the dimensions of space and time in an adventure on the edge of reality where nothing is as it seems, but the Earth seen from up there is “beautiful”.
“Photography: writing with light, when words meet faces”
edited by About A Film
Photography has become the predominant art form in digital communication. The tools (smartphones) and minimal technical skills are within everyone’s reach but the expressive capacity is limited and not very experimental. This workshop focuses on a specific case, the dialogue between photography and music, to create portraits that are expressive of the students’ state of mind. Each participant chooses a song they are fond of, chooses an excerpt from it (be it a refrain, a verse or even just a repeated word) and “wears” a bright dress projected with the words she has chosen.
Me sunbathing in Turin – participatory art installation
curated by Cecilia Mentasti, Vivai project – Varesotto Community Foundation
The children of the Varese schools participating in the Laivin project were involved in the design of an environmental installation that will occupy an area of the Giardini Estensi of Varese during the Laivin Action festival. The children are invited to explore how the artists of the 1900s worked with the concept of space and managed to build emotionally impactful places, using the most diverse elements. The laboratory was an open space in which the kids were able to design and reflect freely on what the characteristics of what we usually call “space” are, in order to dismantle them and then build something undetermined and unexpected. The final result is that of a fabric and wood pavilion that can be moved and set up in different configurations by the children who are invited to create a different space every day.
LAIVin round table – 4 adults, an audience of boys and girls, and 90 minutes to change the world.
Tuesday 21 May, at 3.00 pm – Salone Estense Via Luigi Sacco, 5 Do you want to have a say in your future but constantly feel that you cannot express yourself or that you are not listened to or taken into consideration? But what if there was an occasion when the rules of communication were yours? A moment of exchange on equal terms with adults, a creativity competition on the future with no holds barred? Would you be ready to get involved? The LAIVin Action Festival means protagonism! the Festival wants to launch a challenge to adults: to get involved to create a dialogue with the younger generations, on equal terms and without “mincing words”. Students will define themes and rules of engagement: short times, clear messages and lots of emotions. Who among the 4 adults sitting in the middle of the circle will be able to listen the most? Who will be able to convince and truly involve students in something big? Who will be able to transform doubts, fears and insecurities into great dreams of the future?
Cantù, the workshops and meetings dedicated to students
Speakers Corner
A space for meeting and debate starting from topics of interest that emerged during the LabDay days held during the school year. The Speakers Korner will be moderated by various organizations dealing with environmental issues and gender rights in the area on Monday 20 May, Wednesday 22 May and Friday 24 May. On the remaining days the space remains open for all those who want to meet for a moment of discussion on what they have seen and done during the festival, like a small delayed theater foyer.
Test room
A real rehearsal room set up with V DRUMS electronic drums, two electric guitars, electric bass, microphone and headphones. The rehearsal room can be accessed freely during lunch breaks with the aim of creating jam session moments. This space will see guests on Wednesday 22 May from the Istituo S.Elia di Cantù in concert; while on Thursday 23 May the rehearsal room will be animated by the CPM Music Institute of Milan.
Blank space
A decompression space, a place of quiet. Designed to satisfy the needs of those who, having already received a lot of stimulation during the day, just want to take a moment’s break to recharge their energies and unwind their thoughts.
Permanent editorial team
The editorial team that will manage the communication of the festival during all its days will be based in Villa Calvi. The editorial office is a meeting point where you can meet with professionals from the point of view of the creation-post-production/miscellaneous of photographic and video material: the production of the materials will be entrusted to the social contacts for each school.
