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Archive
2024
Editorial partecipative project consisting of five independent volumes due out between January and September 2024.
¨ Photos of presentations of Archive Vol. A – “Off Your Shoes”, hosted in Turin by Pressato – Coffee and Books and in Vienna by philomena+, March 2024 + presentations of Archive Vol. C – “Tunnel” in Bologna + presentations of Archive Vol. D – “Shaving a Kiwi” in Rotterdam by Dockhuis + book design workshop at LABA in Rimini.
Archive is the third editorial project of Corrispondenze, conceived as a series of five publications. It explores collection, cataloging, and archiving, linking these activities to the ways we perceive and represent the spaces we inhabit. Bringing together personal research, collective projects, and spatial investigations, this publication encourages the exploration of intimate perspectives and a gaze on contemporary history, serving as a starting point for examining pressing issues of our time.
Considering archiving as the daily act of preserving fragments of personal and collective memory, our homes and everyday actions can be seen as the filing systems of our society. The landscape and its morphological structure can be interpreted as an archive of the transformation of nature into history, with the places and bodies that inhabit them as entities to be rediscovered and reimagined.
Archive unfolds in five parts throughout 2024. The first four volumes present the editorial transposition of four artistic projects, developed through a collaborative process between curators and participants. The fifth volume offers a collection of texts analyzing the theme from different perspectives, along with a creative reinterpretation of these insights by a group of students.
PARTICIPANTS VOL. A-B-C-D-E:
Belhassen Handous, Joanna Pianka and Tomash Schoiswohl – Christoph Matt and Isadora Alves – Gianlorenzo Nardi and Tommaso Silvestroni – Ying Liu – Beatrice Brunetto, Livia Polacco and Bochra Taboubi + Caterina Putaturo; Francesca Saccone; Filippo Casadei; Veronica Mantovani; Benedetta Bonifazzi; Sebastiano Zanon; Emanuela Petrillo; Giulia Marrapodi.
vol. A
Off Your Shoes
by Belhassen Handous, Joanna Pianka, Tomash Schoiswohl
January 2024, 38 pages, 21 x 14,8 cm, singer stitch
proofreader: Ofelia Tondi
design: Paola Boscaini
in collaboration with: philomena+, Vienna
+ Report from the panel discussion held by: Azizou Chehou, Wael Garnaoui, Leonie Jantzer, Thameur Mekki, Mariama Nzinga Diallo, Petar Rosandić aka Kid Pex
«I didn’t lose my shoes. I lost».
With these words Joanna Pianka begins her reflection on her contribution to the “Off Your Shoes” exhibition, premiered in November 2023 in the philomena+ art space in Vienna.
Shoes serve as the thematic linchpin interconnecting the diverse perspectives of three artists exploring the Memorandum of Understanding, partnership between Tunisia and the European Union. The symbolic act of removing one’s shoes, the prelude for visitors embarking on this exhibition, unfolds as a nuanced gesture. At the same time a sign of respect and a ritual evoking instances where individuals shed their shoes during migrations or before embarking on a journey of hope across the sea. Losing one’s shoes, when crossing the desert or climbing a mountain, involves the risk of losing everything, including the possibility of survival itself.
What remains of the Memorandum of Understanding, as well as the many migration pacts that have been applied over time, on the bodies and in the memory of people and places?
vol. B
Archives of the Earth
by Isadora Alves e Christoph Matt
March 2024, 38 pages, 21 x 14,8 cm, stapled
photo by: Buero Ludwina
design by: DEAR DEER
in collaboration with: HDK-Valand & Iceland University of the Arts
“ARCHIVES OF THE EARTH” is a site-specific research performance involving simultaneous on-site printmaking and text writing, reimagining contemporary landscape archiving. The research focus is on the volcanic system of Iceland’s Reykjanes peninsula, where the embodied practice faces questions at the core of any performing art – what is a present moment and how can a human vessel translate it. In fall 2023 the DEER DEAR artist duo Isadora Alves and Christoph Matt conducted participatory research via guest lectures and workshops collaborating with students of MFA Embedded Design, at HDK-Valand, in Gothenburg, Sweden, and MA Design & New Environments, at Iceland University of the Arts, in Reykjavik, Iceland. During the time of the research, an imminent eruption on the Reykjanes peninsula was predicted. This micro publication captures remote and on-site inquiries
into the Reykjanes peninsula’s immediate environment and volcanic habitat, presenting diverse perspectives on ecology, society, and economy through critical reflections and interdisciplinary research connections.
vol. C
Tunnel
by Gianlorenzo Nardi e Tommaso Silvestroni
May 2024, 16 pagine, 21 x 29,7 cm, spillato
proofreader: Alessandra Baldon
design by: Gianlorenzo Nardi, Tommaso Silvestroni, Cristina Materassi
«Descending into such a vast and understated space made me think of the city above as a grand organ that dreams and thinks, and to sustain this activity, it constantly requires cooling from underground waters. Everything is functional, converging towards the direction of the drains through pipes leading to the large tunnels. The tunnels are infrastructures that were originally open channels; I tried to imagine some barges arriving laden with materials. I pondered on modernity, which, by transforming, leaves behind something enigmatic and paradoxical, akin to the image of a navigable city where only rusted mechanisms, steadfast bulkheads, and shallow spans of water remain»
vol. D
Shaving a Kiwi
by Ying Liu
July 2024, 30 pages, 21 x 14,8 cm
proofreader: Alessandra Baldon
design by: Jing Liu, Cristina Materassi
in collaboration with: Sarmad Magazine
«If you want to take the most out of this guidebook, it is kindly recommended to practice zazen (sitting meditation) first. You will gain a different and deeper understanding of the acts addressed in this book, since zazen is the fundamental practice from which all the ideas in this book originate.
In zazen, through stillness, minimal mental engagement and body movement, and awareness of our breathing, our bodyminds experience a state of being in which equanimity and joy emerge without being craved for. We simply observe everything as it is, as phenomena which arise and fade away. Observation requires concentration, and concentration brings insight and wisdom. As our bodyminds are nurtured by this state of being and we see the benefits of this practice, we will want to experience it again.
[…]
In this booklet, 30 daily acts are humbly suggested and can be applied in everyday situations where your inner peace is diminishing, allowing you to get closer to tranquillity even when lacking the conditions to embark on zazan»
vol. E
You Get What you See
with contributions by:
Beatrice Brunetto, Livia Polacco, Bochra Taboubi + Caterina Putaturo; Francesca Saccone; Filippo Casadei; Veronica Mantovani; Benedetta Bonifazzi; Sebastiano Zanon; Emanuela Petrillo; Giulia Marrapodi
September 2024, 28 pages, 21 x 14.8 cm
proofreader: Alessandra Baldon
“You get what you see” concludes the publication cycle “Archive” with three texts: “I corpi queer nelle pratiche di archiviazione affettiva” by Beatrice Brunetto, “Memories of a Glorious and Traumatic Past: The Sigmund Freud Museum as a Living Archive in Vienna” by Livia Polacco, and a conversation with Bochra Taboubi about her project “A Museum for Métlaoui.” Between memory and oblivion, visible and hidden, these texts, accompanied by the visual narrative created by a group of Laba students through design and photographic composition, explore what truly deserves to be archived today.