"We Passed Through Earth Lightly as Water"

We’re hosting a public meeting and an animation workshop in order to share the story of the research trip to the island of Asinara entitled “We Passed Through Earth Lightly as Water” - part of the third cycle of The Current “Mediterraneans: ‘Thus waves come in pairs’ (after Etel Adnan)” led by Barbara Casavecchia - realized thanks to the partnership with the Sardegna Film Commission Foundation.

Held in early July 2022, the trip involved the artists Derek MF Di Fabio (member of the Associazione Cherimus, based in Perdaxius, Sardinia), Raffaela Naldi Rossano, Petrit Halilaj and Alvaro Urbano, together with a group of young animators (Riccardo Atzeni, Erica Meloni, Barbara Pirisi, Matteo Porcu) of the NAS (New Animation in Sardinia) project, to create new oppportunities for collaboration, to study climate change from the Asinara National Park observatory, and explore the Mediterranean Sea in close contact with its waves, off the western tip of Sardinia.

The event on Saturday September 3rd will be an opportunity to strengthen the link between the islands of Venice and Sardinia, present the NAS project and talk about the collective research experience through the unpublished animated video clips created for the occasion. Following an animation workshop organized by the NAS project, the researchers, guides, and rangers operating at Asinara will recall the themes that emerged from the meeting, giving everyone a chance to challenge themselves to create a story that comes to life.

The event will be preceded at 9.30am by a breakfast for participants inside the Cloister of San Lorenzo with typical Sardinian sweets kindly offered by the Sardegna Film Commission.

9.30am: Welcome coffee

10.15am-11.15am: Talk "We Passed Through Earth Lightly as Water".

11.15am-12.30pm: Animation workshop “L'Asinara, l'onirico, il mare” (“The Asinara, the dreamlike, the sea”) by the NAS project.

Participants: limited to 12 people (aged 14 and over). Booking required by email: info@ocean-space.org

Starting from a suggestion about the themes of insularity, the relationship between humans, land use, the environment and the sea, during the workshop the participants will create a short collaborative animation in a flip-book to explore the concept of signs in movement.

The the flip-books to be animated will contain an initial drawing-frame with a conceptual input; participants will have to fill the pages turn by turn with a new frame, and then pass the flip-book to their neighbor. At the end of the workshop each flip-book will be the collaborative result of all the workshop participants and will tell a one second long story (24 frames). At the end of the workshop, each participant will be able to take home one of the works.

The Sardinia Film Commission deals with the development of the audiovisual supply chain in Sardinia and accompanies creatives in the exploration of the island, to discover places and people, the tangible and intangible heritage of the island, always with a vision of environmental and social sustainability.

With the NAS - New Animation in Sardinia project, the Sardegna Film Commission Foundation has made Sardinia a permanent production and training laboratory for the realization of animation projects for cinema and TV series, and the enhancement of illustrators and creatives who work in the territory.

With the working title "Mediterraneans: ‘Thus waves come in pairs’ (after Etel Adnan),” the first stream of The Current III cycle is led by Barbara Casavecchia as a transdisciplinary and transregional exercise in sensing and learning with by supporting situated projects, collective pedagogies, and voices along the Mediterranean shores across art, culture, science, conservation, and activism. More information.