Digital Swamp
Digital Swamp is the expanded free public program opening School of Waters. The on-site inauguration will comprise screenings, performances and educational programs hosted in venues located on and around the slopes of Monte Titano. Audiences joining the inauguration remotely will follow the events of Digital Swamp on the Biennale’s website and social media platforms as events are streamed live from San Marino, Europe and the extended Mediterranean.
Slow waters are characteristic of marshland ecosystems. In the absence of movement, disease, insects and predators find refuge in the murky waters. The air is foul, and at times, little sunlight will reach the undergrowth, making it even more unappealing for most life to settle or cross through. Yet, these transition zones connecting land and water provide invaluable ecological benefits, including purifying water channels, carbon storage and protecting farmland and shorelines from soil erosion and flooding. In light of the current limitations on movement and commoning, School of Waters was inspired by these slow and ‘hostile’ ecosystems and is sitting still in this metaphorical and digital space provoked by the ongoing pandemic.
Digital Swamp will share some of the on-site events that will be inaugurating the Biennale. At the same time, it also intends to create a space for participating artists, guest speakers and the curatorial team, to critically rethink and revisit the defining research paths of Mediterranea 19.
The presentations, conversations, workshops and digital performances that make up this program are possible because of the generous support of several partner institutions hosting the events, including Gasworks, London (UK); ARTWORKS and its founding donor, the Stavros Niarchos Foundation, Athens (GR); Shams, Beirut (LB); Museo MA*GA, Gallarate (IT); Centrale Fies, Dro (IT); Škuc, Ljubljana (SI); Dance House, Limassol (CY); K-Gold Temporary Gallery, Lesvos (GR).
Slow waters are characteristic of marshland ecosystems. In the absence of movement, disease, insects and predators find refuge in the murky waters. The air is foul, and at times, little sunlight will reach the undergrowth, making it even more unappealing for most life to settle or cross through. Yet, these transition zones connecting land and water provide invaluable ecological benefits, including purifying water channels, carbon storage and protecting farmland and shorelines from soil erosion and flooding. In light of the current limitations on movement and commoning, School of Waters was inspired by these slow and ‘hostile’ ecosystems and is sitting still in this metaphorical and digital space provoked by the ongoing pandemic.
Digital Swamp will share some of the on-site events that will be inaugurating the Biennale. At the same time, it also intends to create a space for participating artists, guest speakers and the curatorial team, to critically rethink and revisit the defining research paths of Mediterranea 19.
The presentations, conversations, workshops and digital performances that make up this program are possible because of the generous support of several partner institutions hosting the events, including Gasworks, London (UK); ARTWORKS and its founding donor, the Stavros Niarchos Foundation, Athens (GR); Shams, Beirut (LB); Museo MA*GA, Gallarate (IT); Centrale Fies, Dro (IT); Škuc, Ljubljana (SI); Dance House, Limassol (CY); K-Gold Temporary Gallery, Lesvos (GR).