COSENZA In the region that talks about the sea only on the eve of the summer season due to the collapse of the purification system, there is a Unical center of excellence that boasts partnerships throughout Europe and creates jobs.
He guides him Fabio Bruno, associate of the Department of Mechanical, Energy and Management Engineering at the University of Calabria, recently returned from the first phase of the artistic residencies of “Art4Sea”: art, archeology and innovation. Bruno, who knows the sea very well having been born in Paola, is among other things responsible for the BlueMed project for the valorisation and use of submerged heritage, furthermore leads the team that designed underwater tablets for use while diving.
The artistic residencies
A group of researchers, led by prof. Bruno, with the “Creamare” project, aims to raise awareness of the archaeological treasures that have remained hidden under the sea. The artistic residency which began in this first year as a collection and mentoring, next year will see the creation of works to be exhibited in a virtual exhibition. After Greece (in whose waters the first of the three “real” underwater sculptures planned will remain as an installation), other stops in Malta and Ustica, between sculptures and murals, then a digital queue with usability on the web and metaverse. There were 260 requests from artists from all over Europe who participated in the call for this European project which sees the collaboration of marine biologists, the medium is art but the aim is to increase awareness and responsibility in the protection and safeguarding of immense underwater cultural heritage.
The project officially kicked off in February Art4Sea (Melting Art, Creativity and Marine Sciences to foster Ocean Literacy in the Mediterranean area), promoted and coordinated by 3D Researchthe spin-off company of the University of Calabria which for 16 years has been bringing the results of technological and engineering research outside the academic sphere, to promote and enhance the terrestrial and underwater cultural heritage: 30 employees led by Bruno in a continuous focus on cultural heritage and technology (the company also partly operates in the industrial sector), seabeds and archeology – the imprint is always that of dissemination and communication.
Skills that have “illuminated” other centers – such as the Sea Museum of Isola Capo Rizzuto, Le Castella and the protected marine area, Capo Colonna with other installations – and are now enriched by the knowledge of 7 partners from 5 different nations (with institutions of art and science).
The residence, included in the program Creative Europewas based at Bocs Art in Cosenza where 9 artists worked, whose works were exhibited, after at the Bocs Museum in the Bruzio capital, also in Berlin and Thessaloniki.
Supported by Eacea (European Education and Culture Agency), Art4Sea It is the second European project that 3D Research has won as coordinator since Creaming and, like the previous one, it aims to «investigate and make the dialogue between art, creativity, science and technology profitable, this time with the aim of raising public awareness towards greater respect for the environment and, in particular, the marine one».
Ocean health is an urgent issue, at the center of the most recent United Nations actions. The decade 2021-2030 has been proclaimed the ocean science decade for sustainable development (Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development); and in recent months the UN, after almost twenty years of negotiations, reached a historic agreement on the High Seas for the protection of waters beyond national jurisdiction and the sustainable management of ocean resources.
«Through a collaboration between artists, marine scientists, creative professionals and digital technology experts, Art4Sea will develop in the next few years three years in order to involve citizens and make them more aware of the issues of marine pollution and climate change, encouraging them to adopt more respectful behaviors towards the environment and the ocean, starting with reducing the ecological footprint” explain the promoters.
Triple A projects, we could call them: art, archeology and environment.
The team and three small islands
The project working group led by Bruno and with Marco Cozza adopts an interdisciplinary and participatory approach, and makes use of the collaboration of various European partners: IWorld (World Association for the Protection and Enhancement of Humanity) and the Tusa Foundation of Palermo, the Greek company Atlantis Consulting, Divers Alert Network Europe Foundation of Malta, Superior Council of Scientific Investigations in Spain, and the municipality of Vlora in Albany. For Art4Sea they will mix and combine methods of co-production, tutoring and training in presence and at a distance, finding an appropriate balance between the need to have physical interactions and the need to reduce travel which is expensive in terms of carbon footprint.
Twenty-four artists internationals will be selected through a open call and trained in ocean conservation, sustainable practices in art and digital technologies. Three small islands in the Mediterranean, Ustica in Italy, Alonissos in Greece and Gozo in Maltawill then host a distributed residency program, where the artists will be inspired by the splendid natural environments, ancient maritime traditions and direct relationships with the locals, to create digital and material works.
The material works of art will be integrated into the marine, natural and architectural landscapes of the islands, thus creating an open-air and underwater museum which could characterize Ustica, Alonissos and Gozo as beacons of ocean conservation, and will be shown to the public during three exhibitions animated by workshops and other participatory initiatives. In order to involve the highest number of people and maximize public awareness and engagement, a virtual exhibition – usable both on the web and in the metaverse – which will welcome digitized material works and those created digitally and will be hosted both on the three islands and in the Vision Multimedia Center of Vlora in Albania.
Art4Sea will end with a major event on the island of Ustica, during which the historic center of the island will be animated by various performances staged with the participation of the local community. Multidisciplinary events will include theatre, music, dance, visual arts, video mapping and screenings of the works of art produced in the entire residency programme, thus virtually including Alonissos and Gozo in the event.
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In the cover photo, the Art4Sea kickoff meeting which took place on 1 March 2023 in the De Cardona room of the BCC Mediocrati management center in Rende
