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RHIZOME
by Alessandra Amicarelli and Valeria Sacco
Dear readers, we are extremely happy to finally meet again on these pages of ours, a place for collective encounters and reflection.
To envision this second issue, we have listened to your suggestions and collected various insights that emerged during our journey through WATER.
We return to you with many changes and novelties, the result of a natural evolution in which ANIMATAZINE has adapted itself around its guests and the urgencies and desires that drive us.
And so, here we are to present our ISSUE NUMBER TWO dedicated to the EARTH.
Earth with a capital 'E,' as the entire planet, with its layers and energies, of which we humans are both the most recent superficial branches and active forces.
Earth with a lowercase 'e,' signifying that small or large part of the Earth's soil with which we interact daily.
Earth, land, territory. Inhabited, abandoned, lost, dreamt of.
Earth clay, clay, mud. Earth place, space, environment.
Earth from which everything comes and to which everything returns.
Earth that attracts us, calls us to itself.
Earth that shakes us, overwhelms us.
Earth, a mother that welcomes and nourishes.
Earth fertile with encounters and beginnings.
Earth tormented, abused, neglected.
Earth of conflicts and struggles.
Earth of burials.
Walking on these lands, we had the pleasure and fortune to meet and host many travelers and explorers of puppetry in our ANIMATED LEVEL.
From France, Rafi Martin and Julika Mayer told us about the genesis and creative process of Resonancias, a participatory installation that debuted in 2023, where anthropology, geology, and theater engage and blend to create a space of connection among participants. It was born partly through their encounter with Millarca Valenzuela, a geologist specializing in meteorites, and her inspiring words: "Finding a meteorite means entering into resonance."
From Iran, Zahra Sabri, director of the Iranian company Yase Tamam, shared the story of her historic work Count to One, a performance entirely crafted from fresh clay by three soldier-actors. It draws inspiration from the work of the great Iranian poet Omar Khayyam, aiming to restore the need to live in the moment, to seize the instant, and openly oppose all conflicts and wars that steal us away from the time of living.
From Spain, Ingrid Codina and Guillem Geronès, accompanied by Clara Centenera and Michael Lecuyer, shared with us the intentions and needs that gave rise to their collective Ortiga in 2016. From Ortiga emerged An-Ki in 2022, an experiential performance on deforestation, and in 2023, their beautiful project Originaria, a mobile space for creative coexistence with performances, installations, a library, and a laboratory for social and environmental awareness.
Lastly, from Lebanon, Eric Deniaud, a French puppeteer residing in Beirut since 2006, transported us from tales of freshly molded and animated clay in Geology of a Fairy Tale, a 2015 production of which he is a co-author alongside Aurelien Zouki, to stories of the Lebanese land, a melting pot of vastly different communities, with its fragilities and contradictions. This has profoundly nourished both the vision of Collectif Kahraba, which he founded in 2016, and his personal daily artistic gesture.
Our journey on the DRIFT LEVEL was a deliberate exploration entirely within Italy. To achieve this, we had the honor of being guided by the sensibilities, passion, and expertise of our hosts, leading us from the depths of the Earth to the mountains of Lucania, through lands both subtle, almost intangible, and powerful, visionary, archetypal, sonorous, and vibrant. Our guides were:
Patrizia Fumagalli and Roberta Secchi, one a geologist, experimental petrologist, and Full Professor at the University of Milan, and the other an actress, theater pedagogue, and expert in creative writing, who founded Teatro la Madrugada in Milan in 1994. Together, they are the driving force behind the "Earth Stories" project, born within the framework of activities to enhance scientific knowledge and promote Earth Sciences.
Maria Rosa Leone, philosopher and puppeteer, founder of the Teatro Laboratorio Mangiafuoco in Milan, and collaborator of the Teatro delle Guarattelle in Naples. She is also the author of the book "Rafano: from a material good to a good of relationship," and she embodies and propels the knowledge and fervor surrounding the extraordinary School of Graffiti and the Piccolo Teatro of Montemurro.
Maria Spazzi, since 1995 a set designer for prose and lyric productions for numerous theatrical realities, who collaborates regularly with director Serena Sinigaglia in a close artistic partnership. Noteworthy is her use of clay in creating preparatory models, the result of a lengthy and reflective research journey aimed at shaping a space that is not inert but animated by the vitality of clay and the sensitivity of her hands.
Max Casacci, versatil founder of Subsonica, producer, music and lyric author, sound engineer, experimenter, guitarist, he is known for his passion for exploring the boundaries of music. Through his Earthphonia project, he dedicates himself to capturing natural sounds, transforming them into unique melodies and rhythms. The work, which includes an album and a book in collaboration with geologist Mario Tozzi, aims to fuse music and nature, promoting environmental awareness through sound art.
Then we set out in search of the new continent to dedicate our exploration, EARTH and the THREE AMERICAS opened up to us in all their vastness, diversity, and richness. This was made possible through the valuable collaboration with Liliana Perez Recio, Professor at the Department of Scenic Arts at the State University of Santa Catarina, Brazil, and editor of Moin Moin. And so, a series of extraordinary encounters and exchanges unfolded as we journeyed parallel by parallel.
We begin in Canada with Dinaïg Stall, a director, puppeteer, and teacher of Puppetry at the UQAM School of Theater in Montreal, Quebec. She shared with us the origins and developments of "A Taste for Clay," an installation project inspired by Emma Donoghue's story "What Remains" and the lives and works of sculptors Florence Wyle and Frances Loring. This project explores the concepts of impermanence and erosion.
Continuing our journey, we descend to Vermont, United States, where we had the privilege of meeting the wisdom and brilliance of Peter Schumann, the founder of the legendary Bread and Puppet Theater. He welcomed us into his kitchen on a winter morning to discuss his relationship with the Earth, Mother Earth, and Mother Dirt. He emphasized the inseparable connection we have with nature and the political value that theater and art hold in every choice we make or refrain from making.
From the United States, we take a significant leap and arrive in Mexico, where we meet the Cuban director and playwright Dagoberto Luaces Rivero. He sculpts deities and iconic characters from pre-Hispanic mythology onto the bodies of performers using papier-mâché and mud, creating not only visually stunning masks but also living statues capable of bridging the ancestral with the contemporary.
Taking another leap, we reach Brazil, specifically the state of Rio Grande do Sul, where we encounter Paulo Balardim, a multidisciplinary artist and university professor. He tells us about the story of the Vale Arvoredo Artistic Residency Space, situated on a property of fourteen hectares, approximately ten of which are untouched native forest. This space was created to allow professionals from diverse artistic backgrounds to live together full-time, with the aim of personal and artistic improvement and the deepening of interpersonal relationships and connections with the environment.
Our journey concludes in Argentina, where we are welcomed by Julia Sigliano, Luciana Maccaroni, and Laura Khalloub, puppeteers, set designers, and artisans, all born in Lincoln, Buenos Aires province. In 2019, they created AMALas, an independent group of women of various ages, professions, and trades who came together around earth and mud as artistic elements of identity reclamation. Their goal is to produce artistic creations for carnival, making a space that had been denied to women for over a hundred years accessible to them.
And then there are the SECTIONS that travel along with us, following the developments of the editorial team as it expands and contracts, like an adaptogenic herb searching for the terrain to sprout, preserving its wanderer's spirit, whether staying, departing, or returning.
ANIMATED CONSTELLATIONS: curated by Cristina Grazioli, who, with her sensitivity and profound perspective, leads us even deeper into and beyond the theme of Earth.
ANIMATED CINEMA: a new journey into cinema, blending puppetry and Earth, curated by Alessandro Palmeri.
ANIMATED DRAWINGS: A narrative through drawings from the still-evolving but already extraordinary experience of the Terra Theater in Carrara by Soledad Nicolazzi, curated by Marco Ferro.
And then there are the online sections, continuously updated, which also thrive thanks to the collaboration and participation of you, our readers.
ANIMATED MUSIC: a playlist of music videos rigorously characterized by the two essential ingredients: puppets and Earth, curated by Alessandra Amicarelli.
ANIMATED SUGGESTION: which, month by month, will be updated with your recommendations related to the Earth element, curated by Valeria Sacco.
ANIMATED WORKSHOP: a moment of workshop interaction between the editorial team and various recipients around the contents of the TERRA issue, with the results being published in the dedicated section.
And now, enjoy your reading, and THANK YOU to all of you who, with your curiosity, give meaning to this project.
And to all those who have participated, collaborated, and supported the birth of
ANIMATAZINE TWO – EARTH
Alessandra Amicarelli · Alessandro Palmeri · Alessia Candido · Brigitte Behr · Clara Centenera · Clare Dolan · Cristina Grazioli · Dagoberto Luaces Rivero · Dinaig Stall · Donatella Colussi · Eleonora Longobardi · Eric Deniaud · Gabe Harrell · Guillem Geronès · Ingrid Codina · Joshua Krugman · Julia Sigliano · Julika Mayer · Laura Khalloub · Luciana Maccaroni · Liliana Peres Recio · Marco Ferro · Maria Spazzi · Max Casacci · Michael Lecuyer · Narguess Madj · Patrizia Fumagalli · Paulo Balardim · Peter Schumann · Rafi Martin · Roberta Secchi · Rosa Maria Leone · Soledad Nicolazzi · Toni Rumbau · Valeria Sacco · Zahra Sabri ·
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