The fourth edition of the artist residency dedicated to the theme LAND was launched by OMNE in September 2023. This new residency project promoted an exploration of the territory around Castelfranco Veneto, a medium-sized city, characterized by a historic center delimited by a medieval castle. The square layout of the city walls, which characterizes the urban morphology, has established a dialogue with the wider territory through the design of a system of orthogonal axes that connect Castelfranco with the cities of Treviso, Padua, Vicenza. Castelfranco is an integral part of the polycentric system called “sprawl” and, being located in the province of Treviso, it falls into the category of areas with the highest land consumption, doubling, according to data provided by Ispra (Higher Institute for Environmental Protection and Research), the Italian average index. Over time, in this territory the processes of urban dispersion have changed the characteristics of the rural area, bringing to light numerous critical factors that have affected the different aspects of the landscape, the urban, rural and social ones.
The aim of the LAND residency was therefore to investigate a geographical region where the imbalance between urban and rural space, which is even more evident in the peri-urban areas of the identified centers, can start an operational reflection also on a larger scale. Starting from a survey of the different situations encountered, we will try to understand the reasons for the places by documenting and interpreting their value elements, potential and critical issues.
LAND also as territory, as a place where we live or where we choose to live, as an index of belonging to a settled community or, again, to a new homeland. LAND as an expression of disorientation with respect to a landscape in continuous modification, where we struggle to recognize ourselves and where the dimension of nature, vegetal and animal, contracts its spaces with those of man, seeking new possible balances.
LAND is first of all soil, a physical substance that we absentmindedly trample on and that we intentionally transform to make places habitable, it is a soil project. As Bernardo Secchi stated, “every part of the city, especially if observed in the constitution of the urban soil, is strongly identified not only by the geometry of its layouts, by the size of the subdivisions, by the monumental hierarchy and by the rules of spatial organization, but, above all, by the articulation of the different collective and private spaces; (…) by the ways in which the different types of roads are articulated to the built environment, without this necessarily being typified; to the parking spaces, to the gardens, to the parks, to the squares, to the parking lots. What characterizes the historic city and by contrast the recent suburbs is the great articulation of spaces; how the soil, not only the urban one, is not only a technical intermediary between things or a relic, but always locally qualified with respect to a plurality of possible uses and meanings; how each of its functions enters into relation with others according to multiple possibilities”. Following the call for OMNE/LAND artist residencies, eight photographers were selected: Filippo Maria Barbero, Michele Cera, Camilla de Maffei, Matteo de Mayda, Giulia Iacolutti, Ingar Krauss, Cristian Ordonez and Aaron Schuman.
Olivo Barbieri and Francesco Raffaelli, as invited artists, also worked on the theme of LAND, offering further interpretations of the Veneto landscape.
During the residency, the artists were involved in a rich program of meetings, conferences, workshops and exhibitions, organized as part of OMNEFEST 2023.
Artists in Residence 2023
Filippo Maria Barbero, Michele Cera, Camilla de Maffei, Matteo de Mayda, Giulia Iacolutti, Ingar Krauss, Cristian Ordonez and Aaron Schuman
Invited Artists 2023
Olivo Barbieri and Francesco Raffaelli
Activities organized during the LAND artist residency
September 21st-28th, 2023
September 22nd
→ LAND. SOIL, LANDSCAPE, ARCHITECTURE / Conference
September 23rd
→ LANDSCAPE AS CARE AND CARE OF THE LANDSCAPE / Conference
→ INDEX NATURAE, THE EXHIBITION AND THE BOOK / Panel
→ ISIA U LABORATORY: THE BOOK OF BOOKS / Conference
→ ALTRE TEMPESTE / Conference with Olivo Barbieri
September 24th
→ AWARENESS WALK / Public walk
→ MI HA COLPITO SOLO UNA VOLTA / Conference with Peter Puklus
→ OMNE/NATURE 2021–2023 VENETO AND PUGLIA. OBSERVATIONS ON TERRITORIES / Panel
→ INSIEME / Book launch by Mark Steinmetz, Irina Rozovsky
→ OMNE/LAND. WAYS OF LOOKING / Conference
