“Not as a metaphor but literally, Stato di Grazia was born as a necessity: my desire to survive” – Laura Cionci
The Italian Cultural Institute of Sydney as part of the 17th edition of the Contemporary Art Day promoted by AMACI (Associazione Musei Arte Contemporanea Italiani – Association of Italian Contemporary Art Museums) with the support of the Italian Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, presents the webinar ‘Stato di grazia/Codice dei sogni‘ (State of Grace/Code of Dreams).
A digital event, scheduled for 6 December 2021, presenting the research and artistic work of Italian visual artist and experiential researcher Laura Cionci, in a conversation led by the Melbourne-based Sicilian curator and researcher Miriam La Rosa.
The talk will touch on specific themes addressed in Cionci’s work: the relationship between art, life and nature; the concept of the word ‘cure’ (understood as a commitment, but also as ‘healing’ and ‘medicine’), explored as a tension between Western approaches and philosophies and ancestral wisdom and knowledge and the potential role of dreams – the experiences of dreams – in dealing with the anxieties of the present.
These topics will be discussed as part of Laura’s work, which includes the multi-level ‘Stato di Grazia‘ (State of Grace) project (from 2018 and still ongoing) and its most recent development, entitled ‘Incubazioni Oniriche‘ (Dream Incubations – 2021). The project led the artist to travel from Italy to Colombia in 2018, where she presented her work in the exhibition ‘Corpo, Spirito e Anima‘ (Body, Spirit and Soul) and to Australia in 2019. During these trips Laura developed a series of installations, performances and workshops, designed to stimulate the imagination of attendees in order to produce a collective public artwork, as well as a publication.
Finally, Cionci and La Rosa will explore possible future developments in the artist’s practice, drawing on their current collaboration for a large-scale project supported by the Italian Cultural Institute of Sydney, which is expected to take place in both Italy and Australia in 2022-23.
For more information, go to icsydney.esteri.it
