Curva Blu is INCURVA’s artist residency programme.
Curva Blu unfolds in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, on the Island of Favignana, a diverse natural environment, a territory of possible exploration and discovery.
The project aims to offer a place for artists who search a totally unique condition, where geographical, historical, and social characteristics can become sources of inspiration, base for experimentation, new dialogues and exchange. Since its inception, Curva Blu, focuses on a dialogue between the participating artists and the territory.
The third edition of Curva Blu, held in September and October 2018, employs the concept of dialogue as a dialectical form of encounter and exchange. For this edition the curators have invited: Giulia Cenci (Italy),Diego Marcon (Italy), Lydia Ourahmane (Algeria) and Megan Rooney (Canada) .
The artists will use the time offered on the island to research and deepen themes and processes already present in their work, whilst being contaminated by communal living and the territory.
By using personal artistic processes and discourses as creative point of departure we wish to initiate new forms of artistic production focused on collaboration, encouraging also new critical perspectives and visions.
Marianna Vecellio and Attilia Fattori Franchini
The 2018 artists in residence are:
Giulia Cenci (b. 1988, Italy)
“[…]Made of ash bones, rubber, resin, graphite powder or marble dust, Cenci’s works display a sense of balance between the exigencies of ‘final’ form versus the sculptural process, oscillating between energies toward stasis and toward growth. […] Cenci’s works express an oscillation between the formal necessities of abstract sculpture – the constraints of natural gravity, for instance, or of material specificities of forms such as plaster or resin. […] In Cenci’s interests in the relationship of casts, as the units of reproduction, to notions of form, Cenci’s work contains an astute linking of the category of artistic ‘form’ with the mechanical notion of ‘format’.” Pablo Larios, Text from Deep State, catalogue of the exhibition at DeAteliers, Amsterdam 2017.
Recent exhibitions include: String figures: narrative practices, Fondazione Baruchello, Roma; That’s IT!, MAMBO, Bologna – Hybrids, Lustwarande, Platform for Contemporary Sculpture, park De Oude Warande, Tilburg (NL) all 2018; ground-ground, SpazioA, Pistoia IT; a través, Carreras Mugica (Hall), Bilbao ES; Offspring 2017 DEEP STATE, De Ateliers, Amsterdam NL, all 2017.
Diego Marcon (b. 1985, Italy)
Diego Marcon (b. 1985, Italy)
Poised between cinema and visual arts, Diego Marcon’s works feature the use of both video and 35mm, 16mm, and Super8 film. The artist uses different processes to explore the potential of the various media by using different techniques: intervening directly on the film with painting and etching, by way of traditional animation and, more recently, via the use of computer-generated imagery (CGI). Diego Marcon has been shortlisted for 2018 MAXXI Bulgari Prize and won the 2018 Henraux Foundation Sculpture Award.
His works have been screened in international film festivals and shown in institutions such as: Whitechapel Gallery (London, UK); Fondation d’entreprise Ricard (Paris, FR); De Vleeshal (Middelburg, NL); Centre international d’art et du paysage de l’Île de Vassivière (Vassivière, FR); NAI – Netherlands Architecture Institute (Rotterdam, NL); Artspace (Auckland, NZ); OCAT (Shanghai, CN); Matadero (Madrid, E); Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo (Turin, IT); Museo Villa Croce (Genoa, IT); PAC – Padiglione d’Arte Contemporanea (Milan, IT); Museion (Bolzano, IT); MAXXI (Rome, IT) and La Triennale di Milano (Milan, IT).
Lydia Ourahmane (b. 1992, Algeria)
Lydia Ourahmane research-driven practice tests the permeability of boundaries and the state of being in-between. She archives, stages, and animates the many restrictions placed on the freedom of movement of colonized bodies, drawing on stories from her home country of Algeria—from land made toxic by foreign oil companies and chemical plants to public squares where only fictional protests receive police protection. Born in Saïda, she now divides her time between Oran and London. – Chantal McStay, BOMB Magazine 15th March 2018.
Recent exhibitions include: Manifesta 12, Palermo; Droit Du Sang (blood right), Kunstverein Munchen, Munich; Acts of Translation, MMAG Foundation, Amman; Chisenhale Gallery, London; Songs for a Sabotage, New Museum Triennial 2018, NY; all 2018.
Megan Rooney (b. 1986, Canada)
Megan Rooney is an enigmatic storyteller; her work expands across painting, performance, written and spoken word, sculpture and installation. The artist summons a cast of recurring characters that expand and contract across ephemeral incarnations: the self is not solid, nor are its narratives. Rooney’s references engage with materiality and the human subject, they are deeply invested in the present moment: the festering chaos of politics with its myriad cruelties and the laden violence of our society, so resident in the home, in the female, in the body. These recurring characters are neither reliable nor empathetic. For the viewer of the work, they hover somewhere between identification and critique, while also suggesting that each iteration of her work is merely a fragment of a larger whole, a gesamtkunstwerk that is ordered by no single framing mechanism. Rooney lives and works in London.
Recent exhibitions include: Another Banana Day for the Perfect Fish, Palais de Tokyo, Paris; Cuckoo till I come back, DREI, Cologne; (X) A Fantasy, David Roberts Art Foundation, London, all 2018; MOMMA! MOMMA!, Tramway, Glasgow; Hullabaloo, Cordova, Vienna all 2017.
In Favignana, the artists will present the research carried out during the residency.
Fri 12 October at 5PM: In conversation with Diego Marcon
Meeting point: Piazza Europa, Favignana
Sat 13 October from 11AM: Giulia Cenci’s Temporary Installation visit
Venue: Punta San Nicola, Favignana
Sat 13 October from 4PM: Megan Rooney and Lydia Ourahmane, open studios
Venue: Ex-Stabilimento Florio, Favignana
The open studios are open to the public and free, read the “Reach Favignana” section for tips on how to visit
Marianna Vecellio – chief curator
Curator, researcher, and writer is an art historian. In 2012 she has been appointed as curator at Castello di Rivoli Museo d’Arte Contemporanea, Rivoli/Torino – where she works since 2007. She has curated various exhibitions and publications such as Andres Serrano’s Via Crucis, Massimo Grimaldi’s Before The Images, Paloma Varga Weisz, Rachel Rose, Cecile B. Evans, Ed Atkins, Anna Boghiguian, Hito Steyerl and Cally Spooner and edited monographic catalogs such as John McCracken and Luigi Ontani. She collaborates to numerous editorial projects with particular attention to historical research in the compilation of chronological and anthological histories. She is currently working on the exhibition and publication of Michael Rakowitz in collaboration with Whitechapel, London, the exhibition of Marianna Simnett and the project with Pedro Neves Marques all opening at Castello di Rivoli in fall 2019. Her research is focused on transdisciplinary projects in which critical thought and artistic practice coexist such as Abitare il Minerale and currently Comp(h)ost with Witte de With, Rotterdam. From 2009 she is in the committee board of Public Art of the City of Torino. She has contributed to numerous Italian and International magazines. Working on Curva Blu since 2016, for INCURVA, Marianna also curated Sivilization’s Wake by Stephen G. Rhodes and Barry Johnston (Palermo, 2018).
Attilia Fattori Franchini – curator
Attilia Fattori Franchini is an independent curator and writer based in London and Milan. She is cofounder of the nonprofit platforms bubblebyte.org and Opening Times and contributes essays and reviews to international publications such as Mousse, CURA, and Flash Art International. She has been working at Curva Blu since its inception in 2016. Attilia is currently curator of BMW Open Work by Frieze (since 2017); the Emergent section of miart, Milan (since 2017); and directed the latest edition of the Termoli Art Prize, Italy (2018). Recent projects include Could you visit me in dreams? as part of curated_by 2018, Vienna, (2018); Red Lake at Point Centre for Contemporary Art, Nicosia (2018); and ARS17+ at Kiasma, Museum, Helsinki (2017).
Past projects include: Meshes of the Afternoon, Roman Road, London (2017); Céu Torto, Boatos Fine Arts, São Paulo (2017); Morning uber, evening oscillators, Seventeen, London (2016); Europa and the Bull at LambdaLambdaLambda, Pristina, Kosovo (2016); Oa4s, Temra and David in 4 parts, Sorbus, Helsinki (2016); Yves Scherer, Snow White and The Huntsman, Mexico City (2016); Kuvan Kevät, Kuvat Academy of Fine Arts, Helsinki (2015); Bold Tendencies, London (2015); and HAND, Barbican Centre, London (2013).
For more info: http://attiliaff.com
Ex Stabilimento Florio delle Tonnare di Favignana e Formica
Curva Blu studios are set in the wonderful estate of Museum Ex-Stabilimento Florio delle Tonnare di Favignana e Formica.
The museum is open daily
July-September: 10-13 and 17-23
October: 10-17
Reach Favignana
INCURVA’s is here to help you out reaching Favignana, so don’t hesitate to contact us. Find below some travel tips.
Favignana is a small island off the coast of Western Sicily, Italy. The closest airports are Trapani and Palermo.
Favignana is just 30 minutes hydrofoil ride away from Trapani or Marsala’s port.
There’s at least 10 rides per day from Trapani and less from Marsala, you can use www.libertylines.it to check out timetable or book.
Please note that the last ride of the day is at 8pm from Trapani and 7.30pm from Marsala.
There’s many options for rentals on the island, but if you need to take vehicle on the island, you’ll need to travel with Siremar or NGI
Distance to Trapani’s port:
From Trapani’s Airport:
– 30 min drive – you can grab a taxi at the airport (30 EUR) or call Michelangelo for a van/car +39 335 82 25 215
– buses are frequent (10 EUR) and drop you at the port
From Palermo’s Airport:
– 60 min drive: contact Michelangelo Transfer for private van +39 335 82 25 215 (about 75 EUR)
– 70 min bus timetable here bus drops you at the port
– 2 hours bus: go to Palermo first (bus, taxi, shared taxi) and hop-off at Via Belgio Bus stop, from there hop on a bus to Trapani, timetable here
From Palermo’s port/city center:
– 80 min drive: contact Michelangelo Transfer for private van +39 335 82 25 215 (about 75 EUR)
– 90 to 120 min with bus, frequent a buses drop you at Trapani’s port timetable here
Rail: unless you want to enjoy and long trip, we discourage taking the train
In Favignana
Trasportation once in Favignana:
– Rent your car/bike/scooter at Infopoint, big red building just off Favignana Port
– There’s many taxi services on the island
Recommended house rentals (our friends!):
– Alessandra’s houses: https://www.traventoemare.it/
– Rosario’s houses on Airbnb
– Davide’s houses www.favignanacasa.it
– Plenty of options on Airbnb
Recommended hotels (our friends!):
– Casa al mare
– Hotel Cave Bianche
– Hotel delle Cave
Heartfelt thanks to everyone who helped and experienced Curva Blu 2018 residency and open studios, to the INCURVA donors and members and especially to Annalisa Stabellini.
Curva Blu is supported by our forward-looking technical sponsors:

Curva Blu is made in partnership with the following institutions:

Diego Marcon – The Parents’ Room
The Parents’ Room is a project by Diego Marcon presented by INCURVA and one of the winners of the 7th edition of the Italian Council call promoted by the Directorate General for Contemporary Creativity of of MiBACT. The project, in 2020, entails the production of the movie The Parents’ Room, that will become part of Madre – museo d’arte contemporanea Donnaregina’s permanent collection. The film is part of Marcon’s research aimed at investigating the representation of reality through the destructuring of the cinematographic language and its most popular and codified genres. More info
Beatrice Marchi at Casa Masaccio, Italy
Shot in Favignana in 2017, Friends in a promo through which Loredana, the female clown with claws, recruits dancers for one of her upcoming shows. Beatrice Marchi has given life to many hybrid and double, comical and dissolute, vulnerable and noble characters which have been brought together and reactivated in her show at Casa Masaccio in 2019.
Francesco Pedraglio at OGR, Torino, Italia
+390918420027 is a 1: 100 scale calcarenite maquette of a specific point of the Bue Marino calcarenite quarry.The public can activate the work by calling the carved number and listening to a story by Francesco Pedraglio. Artissima Telephone encouraged reflection on the point of passage between landlines and mobile phones, exploring the way social practices have changed since the introduction of factors of mobility (space) and simultaneity (time).
Dominque White at Kevin Space, Vienna
Conceived in July 2019 on the Italian island of Favignana for Curva Blu 2019, Ruttier for the Absent hung precariously as a beacon on the cusp of the Mediterranean Sea at Punta Marsala in the shadow of an abandoned lighthouse where the found materials—a sail, rope and dried palm fronds—had first been heavily mutilated by the artist, then destroyed by the force of the Mediterranean Sea. Translated into the white gallery space, the sculpture has now been manipulated by the artist with kaolin clay, a naturally occurring white clay often found on sculptures from Central and Western Africa as an act of cleansing and protecting the work from the exhibition space. Text Kevin Space
Lupo Borgonovo at Museo Civico di Castelbuono
Babi 1 (2016), Babi 2 (2016) and Babi (2016) are the very first artworks produced at Curva Blu since the programme began. The three sculptures were produced by Lupo Borgonovo in Favignana and are now showed at ZEESTER, Lupo Borgonovo’s solo exhibition at Museo Civico Castelbuono (Palermo) on view 8th August 2019 through 29th September 2019. More info
Margherita Raso at Sgomento
Kore (2019), produced by Margherita Raso during Curva Blu 2019 , is part of the group show “Le Monde Ou Rien” organized by Sgomento in Naples (More info). During her residency in Favignana, Margherita Raso learned limestone sculpting with local sculptor Benito Alessandra at his “Giardino Incantato”.
Unknown Friend shortlisted for Mario Merz Prize 2019
Congratulations Stephen G. Rhodes and Barry Johnston for being shortlisted for the 3rd Mario Merz Prize with Sivilization’s Wake, co-produced by INCURVA. Learn more and cast your vote on mariomerzprize.org
Trisha Baga at Greene Naftali, New York, USA
Congratulations Trisha Baga for her solo show at Greene Naftali (NYC), also featuring the cave footage shot during Curva Blu 2017. More info
INCURVA at Supercondominio, Castello di Rivoli, Italy
INCURVA has been invited at Supercondominio, a gathering of new contemporary art spaces in Italy promoted by Castello di Rivoli and its research department, the CRRI. More info about the event
8 July 2018
David Horvitz at Loom Gallery, Milan, Italy
Some of the works conceived during the Curva Blu 2017 residency are on show at Loom Gallery, more info here.
9 May 2018
INCURVA aims at making western Sicily a fertile ground for research in contemporary art, re-activating its public spaces and stimulating dialogue with its local communities through a platform for residencies, talks and exhibitions. Established in 2016.
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