On 8 April, the Italian Cultural Institute of Helsinki presents a meeting with Egle Oddo at the end of the project ‘Performative Habitats’, realised thanks to the support of the General Directorate for Contemporary Creativity of the Ministry of Culture within the ‘Italian Council’ programme.
The year-long artistic research project was curated by Lori Adragna and consists of several creative moments, including the creation of an installation-performance for the Mänttä Festival.
‘Performative Habitats’ will come to an end at MAXXI Rome after a series of events, seminars, performances and exhibitions in Zagreb, Palermo, Cervignano del Friuli, Rome, Tunis, Vienna, Helsinki, Ekenäs and Mänttä.
A video and a monograph produced in collaboration with postmediabooks tell the story of his artistic work.
With ‘Performative Habitats’ biology, botany and natural sciences meet the multiple languages of artistic disciplines. Starting from climate change as a primary emergency, the artist, who was born in Italy and lives in Finland, aims to rethink everyday practices and establish new modes of production that are environmentally sustainable.
The book of the same name analyses themes dear to Egle Oddo and features contributions from various philosophers, scientists and art historians.
The video, on the other hand, offers a long-term insight into artistic practice, focusing mainly on the ongoing collaborations between Egle Oddo and various institutions and partners in Tunisia where the project is continuing to expand.
The artist has for years been engaged in an investigation into extremophile plants, which are perhaps the key to the agriculture of the future. Botany professors Anna Scialabba and Aberrazak Smaoui, scientist Karim Ben Hamed, performer Talel Ayoub and filmmaker Rassene Gassen accompanied him on his journey to Tunisia.
The production of the video was supported by the Italian Cultural Institute of Tunis.
For more information, go to iichelsinki.esteri.it.
