Antares

 Antares is a beautiful star. Stars can be, among other things, guides in the darkness of the night.

Antares is also a very precise name of a street in Geremeas, a tiny village in the South of Sardinia (Italy).

Antares is an experiment and a research. A living being and a format.

Antares aims at re imagining and re positioning the notion of time and space in our working practice, by creating a format that focuses on being rather than doing, giving space to a deep sense of listening of our needs, desires and visions.

We believe that re-shaping new sustainable and inclusive ways of bringing artistic work to people and places implies rethinking the ways to create and produce the work, first. Which means shifting the focus on the art worker and its creative/curatorial process rather than –or before– the final outcome.

Antares happens as a residency were artists/curators are invited to spend a non productive time in the Southern cost of Sardegna without any outcome requested, a “space” where connection with local activities and projects takes place thanks to an exchange of practices -not only art practices but all that can be relevant on a territory. Reciprocity is one of the values of the project. And the desire to work on decentralised areas a necessity.

Instead of travelling to a venue to explore/rehearse a previously focused idea/concept, the guests of Antares would be offered time to create gentle connections, to cross contaminate, to let the inspiration settle and the desire arise.

In terms of artistic profile, we imagine to work with multidisciplinary artists who already have a desire/need of long running projects that requires a long stay in a place, and a connection with what happens there in terms of a deep exchange and not only participation.

As of local “partners”, we will work with small, sustainable and innovative organisations such as Janas –a two-women trekking activity based in the former mining area of South Sardinia– or Su trobasciu an all women cooperative of weavers.

Antares re-shapes itself every time, in dialogue with the guests it invites and the contexts it encounters.

Antares is, so far, composed by curator/creative producer Lisa Gilardino and artist Valentina Medda. Valentina and Valentina share a need and a passion in looking for sustainable, inclusive, engaging and pleasurable and site specific ways to imagine, produce and curate art.

Lisa Gilardino is an independent performing arts curator, creative producer and manager based in Bologna (IT). After being responsible for the promotion and the international relations of Lenz Rifrazioni theatre group and managing director and curator at Natura Dei Teatri Arts Festival from 2001 to 2011 (Parma, IT), in 2011 she takes part to a one year long training programme Festival Lab for festival curators and producers. Since 2011 she works as a freelance manager with artists  focusing on promotion, development and advice.  She actually works with Italian artists Motus and Alessandro Sciarroni, with whom she travelled globally for the past ten years.  Since 2013 she gives workshops and mentoring sessions on artists management, creative production and curating in Italy and abroad. She was co-artistic director of Santarcangelo festival (Santarcangelo di Romagna, IT) with Eva Neklyaeva for the 2017/2019 editions. With Eva Neklyaeva and Marco Cendron she is actually engaged in a project called Samara  Editions, a publishing house for performing arts that commissions performative art works to be delivered to spectators by post. 

Valentina Medda is an interdisciplinary artist based in Bologna -IT. She has a background in physical theatre, an MA in Philosophy and a degree in Photography from ICP-International Center of Photography, NY. As an activist and organizer she’s been part of artists-run spaces in both Bologna and NY. Her art practice lies at the crossroads between performance, photography and intervention, positioning itself right at the border that separates and connects public and private, body and architecture, urban space and social belonging. Her works –always site specific and often participatory– happen outside the art/performance venues, in both domestic and urban spaces, and intercept unconventional dynamics and contexts. Her works have been shown internationally, from NYC to Paris, Bern, Brussels and Prague, and she’s been invited as artist in residence in several cities in Europe and abroad –Bern (Auawirleben), Gent (Open City@ Vooruit), Beirut (BAR), NYC (Flux Factory), Milan (OPEN CARE), Paris (Cité des Arts), and Brussels (Le bains:connective) among others. She was a recipient of, among others,  the Roberto Cimetta Mobility Grant, the NYFA's Fellowship and the TINA ART Prize.